The Hungry Heart of the Soul

MUSING

On Sunday, strolling the zoo lights with grandchildren, pushing my almost year old ‘Chill Cherub*’, next to the mother of my 10-month-old ‘Joy Boy*’ also in a stroller, their eyes of wonder sparkle as they take in the lights. Eyes so wide, as if able to absorb the sights and sounds and smells through their senses. And then, more magic, a spontaneous desire for human connection. One grandson reaches out his hand to touch the other. Their hands touch and clasp. It happens again and again. These innately connected beings just know and act in a way that sees wonderment is about connecting. So, they touch hands and clasp fingers and look at each other. Again, and again.

You see they know the power of a touch. A gaze exchanged. Wordless communication that says more than words. This child-knowing captures the essence of what is important. It serves as my reminder as I come back to this touching scene again and again. Unplanned moments accessible when I look, feel, allow, and wonder. As Bruce Springsteen pinned so many years ago, ‘everybody’s got a hungry heart.’

A day later, as the last gathering of a small group yearlong exploration was held via Zoom, it happened again. Yes, different, and still the same. We experimented with a new-to-me group meditation and again, after a few minutes, the sense of connection. The soothing of the hungry heart we each have.

And this is why I choose to offer the experiences; an invitation to feed the hungry heart of the soul. Starting January, a one-year long experience of accessing your inner mentor begins that will offer practices that draw us inward, inviting the hungry heart of the soul to be fed in an intimate small online setting.

It’s a few days before when many will celebrate a time of coming together, often amid a meal, drinks, perhaps a flurry of present opening. And there are many who will be alone – by choice or by circumstance. These people may consider that they are missing out or they may relish the quiet and peaceful way of internally celebrating by simply being.

As the distaste of consumerism mingles with habit and expectation, I personally feel a yearning for something simpler. I imagine a leisurely day of gifting our complete attention and presence with those around. This is often in a beach setting, where the meals effortlessly happen and the entire immediate family (there are 16 of us) float in and out of the main room, simply connecting. There is no wi-fi, no sports on a big screen, and we play board games, walk the beach, and simply and profoundly marvel at what is present, and the company of presence. We feed our hungry hearts that yearn for connection much in the same way Joy Boy and Chill Cherub do as they reach for their hands.

Alas, with a blended family invited to show up to more than one home, this image is unlikely. Still, it could happen and so the invitation dawns to focus on the essence of the imagining. Surrounded in love, we connect with each other, as we are, unhurried, and showing up to the best of our ability. I can choose to let go of the judgements and expectations so ingrained they become unnoticeable. Unless I invite them forth with the invitation of meeting my hungry heart of the soul with those around me. I can choose to slow down the pace. To practice presence. And so can each of us. It is a choice. 

So, in the upcoming days, practice the gift of soothing the hungry heart of your soul; show up without expectation, embrace child-like wonder at the lights present within all, and marvel at the experience of being Presence.

* These are my nicknames for these two grandchildren. Chill Cherub’s name is Kempton Nash and Joy Boys is Avery Miles. The story behind the names, well that is another musing

MODALITY

Accessing Your Inner Mentor – A Year Long Exploration

Have you paused to consider that the answers are within? Ever had that experience where someone tries to share with you something that is new and exciting and revealing for them, while it makes no sense for you, or seems ho-hum? Then perhaps a day or a year later, you have an insight that invites you to see what they saw?

 Whether it is Brene Brown calling it self-awareness, the Amrit lineage inviting us to become the observer of the experience, St. John of the Cross’ invitation to ‘the dark night of the soul’ or  the Bible’s invite to ‘Be Still…and Know,’ the scriptures and leaders from fields of emotional and spiritual health point to the inward journey. This is about allowing the experience to inform our awareness, moving beyond what reading and reflection alone offer.

Becoming aware that ‘we are both the observer of the experience and the experience’ (Yogi Amrit Desai) is a profound invitation that continues to pierce and encourage the inward exploration. This moves beyond thinking to seeing and knowing the answers we seek externally can only be grasped from within. This happens in bits and pieces, starts, and pauses, periods of exhilarating growth often followed by times of quiet, sometimes dark, pauses where it can feel like stagnation or stuckness. It is all part of the spiritual experience of life.

Traveling this path of self-inquiry while resting in the field of the ocean that we are is part of the human experience. Some travel this over a lifetime, for some it occurs as if in a flash near the end of life. For many, the sincere, ongoing doggedness of the journey begins in the late 20’s to early 40’s when there is a questioning around life – ‘is this all there is?’ The answer waiting to be discovered.

My personal experience points to the importance of having guides on this journey. Not to take the journey instead of me, and to help me see the guideposts, the signs along the way that I might overlook or spend longer circling around.  We learn so much from those around us; we receive knowing from the moments of pause (literally or figuratively) whereby this knowing becomes unshakably rooted in the essence of who we are, LOVE.

Starting January 4th at 4:30 PM MST*, a small group of fellow journeyers will embark on a year-long journey of exploring the interior spaces within each of us. What we will discover will offer an ongoing invitation to move inward while being present to that which is us. There will be practices and experiences designed to connect and stretch, all with the emphasis on accessing the inner mentor within. The outcome of this journey is less important than the journey of exploring, allowing, connecting, giving and receiving.

Curious? More information here or sign up here.  

*Start date/ time to be modified based on what fits the collective ‘us.’