May 2024: Capacity & Resilience

Azalea, Franklin NC, 2024

in reflection:

Spring has not always felt like a smooth, easeful transition
The highs of fresh life, unfurling colors, new potential, and the resurgence of life
Coupled with a crippling heaviness rooted in unmended hurt
This Spring feels a bit different though
A little less tense, heavy, and turbulent
And I find myself reflecting on why that is
It’s not like the hard stuff has completely vanished, rather, my capacity to be with it has expanded
The resiliency to experience the spectrum of human emotions is more intact.

As always, my understanding of whole-person well-being and Self-actualization has evolved and expanded due to the nature of time and experience; trial and error; joy and triumph.
 
And what I’m feeling invited to share more of are resources and experiences that facilitate the possibility of a wider sense of well-being to fuel the capacity to really live; to really embrace ones full potential.
 
Because the universe longs to see us in our full potential, the earth revels in the possibility, and the well-being of our collective depends on it.
 
This entails tending to the whole person (body, mind, and soul) and our relationship to the whole and mending the hurt that keeps us stuck in programs, beliefs, and ways of being that blockade our true nature.
 
Lately, or more like the last 3 years, I’ve spent extra time in the mending part, and one of the most transformative things aside from time has been navigating the discomfort, disturbance, and distress of being a soul on an evolutionary journey.

Now, I'm not here to glorify the hard parts of being human, however, I do want to acknowledge that our capacity to be with those aspects of our humanity is correlated with our capacity to be in the love, the goodness, and the benevolence.
 
Tough experiences are going to happen- we’re going to move through circumstances that make us uncomfortable, that disturb our sense of Self, and that feel overwhelming.
 
And we have the intelligence and capacity to be with it all.
 
And what I’ve noticed from being able to be with more of life is more possibility; more potential; more connection.
 
I think this is why ancient systems such as Ayurveda, Shamanism, Buddhism, Yoga, Nature-Based Spirituality, etc. were initially transmitted- to expand the capacity to be alive.

Same with all forms of art and creative expression.

a poem:

Bloom
And quietly one morning
When no one was around
Just birdsongs singing
The sun rising
The scent of sage lingering in the background
A realization dawned
A threshold crossed
Skin shed
A flower bloomed
-Ashlyn Miller

I wrote this one morning with a deep sense of 'I have changed' yet I am the same. It reminded me of how the actions, thoughts, and experiences we engage with over time can result in a newly emerged sense of self.
And oftentimes while we're in that process it's hard to comprehend ever stepping on the other side, and then in a quiet moment without any expectation, the threshold is crossed.
So, keep showing up, keep taking care of yourself, keep engaging the deeply meaningful things, keep embracing what moves you closer to your true nature, and allow the unfurling process to move through you like a flower reaching and opening up toward the morning sun.

seasonal alignment:

We’ve reached a threshold in the wheel of the year; the cycle of life.
May 1st is the cross-quarter point between Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice.
The ancient celebration of Beltane.
A time bubbling with new life, creativity, and growth (whatever that looks like for you).
And celebrating is a way of connecting with the soul’s journey and nature's intelligence, which generates momentum and serves as a balm for the tenderness of it all.
So, in the days surrounding May 1st, consider how you can celebrate your soul’s journey and the cycles of life you dance with either alone or in nurturing relationship with others.

last minute thoughts:

It seems so enticing to always reach for the next best thing; longing for the joy, contentment, and peace that will come when x,y, and z have been obtained or achieved.
However, I sense that it's not the addition of stuff or some future version of ourselves that will lead to the things we most desire but the removal of all the layers that snuff it out; the eliminating of what gets in the the way of being able to be with life as it is in the present moment.