Ever notice that, when times get tough, we tend to bow our heads & forge ahead, eyes lowered, chin tucked, jaw set? This posture compresses our upper chakras: Crown, 3rd Eye, Throat & Heart. Constricting these vital centers makes it more difficult to access the grace, inspiration & clarity needed to find solutions & a smooth pathway forward. Next time you're feeling stressed, relax your jaw, lift your head, look to the sky & welcome luminous possibilities!
by Ananaia R O'Leary
I've been exploring a dynamic that my Spirit Allies call our "operational Holy Grail." The concept here is that, on a day-to-day operational level, each of us has a key quality or condition we are seeking. When that condition is met, we find ourselves in the sweet spot, optimized for functioning. We experience ease and a sense of right alignment. Things flow.
When Spirit brought this information through a few years ago, it carried a ring of Truth, which has inspired me to learn more. With the help of Spirit, I've been deepening my understanding and helping myself and others to explore our personal operational Holy Grails. I have a strong sense that identifying our operational Holy Grail and learning how to attain it is a vital key to harmony-in-living and effectively bringing our medicine in the world.
Discovering and cultivating our personal operational Holy Grail, empowers us. What is your operational Holy Grail?
My operational Holy Grail is clarity. When my mind is lucid, I am in the sweet spot. My entire system hums. I am cleared for action. When my mind is muddled, it slows my roll. Confusion creates a micro-chaos, which stymies momentum and sends my creative energy spiraling into unfruitful back eddies. For me personally, it is the most miserable state I know. Of course, no one likes to be confused, but for me clarity is a core organizing dynamic. Without it, nothing good can happen. Operationally, clarity empowers me to be at peace and to act in alignment.
This awareness has made cultivating clarity an even greater priority. Through energy work, ceremony, spirit alliance and prayer, I continue to welcome and nurture clarity. When I am unclear, I am not myself. In this moment, I am reminded that whenever I feel confused, I need to step back, insert a liminal pause and reconnect to my authentic core, which is always clear and aligned with Truth. Confusion is simply evidence that I am coming from Ego, rather than Spirit - a timely reminder.
Of course, the operational Holy Grail is simply that: something we seek in order to optimize our ability to function. Beyond this operational level, there is a deeper dynamic: the spiritual Holy Grail that inspires our evolution and drives our destiny. Ultimately, the spiritual Holy Grail is Love. We are called to our own unique pathways of experiencing and expressing Love and the creative synergy that arises when we collaborate from Love. Understanding our personal operating system, helps us to answer the call of destiny.
article by Ananaia R O'Leary
Is anyone else tired of glib quotes gliding down your facebook page, offering you simplistic solutions to exquisitely complex dynamics in your life? I know I am.
I recently read a meme that exemplifies what I'm talking about. It was posted by a well-intentioned friend, who I respect. So if you happen to be reading these comments, my friend, they are not meant as a criticism. In fact, I appreciate your post, as it helped to bring a recent swirl of thoughts into focus.
The meme in question reads:
← It makes it sound so easy, doesn't it? As though we are not currently loving unconditionally simply because we haven't chosen to do so. We can't be bothered or perhaps, even worse, we've willfully decided to love conditionally or not at all.
In the face of this illuminating meme, the world can now change radically on a dime. In a moment of cognitive choice, we can simply decide to love unconditionally -- voila! = World Peace!
With all respect to the intentions of both the creators of this meme and my friend who posted it, this is the kind of over-simplistic platitude that gives the so-called New Thought movement a bad name. Yes, certainly, to love unconditionally does require a choice, but this is only one step in a far more complex process. Unconditional love is not simply a matter of choice; it also a question of capacity. To love unconditionally, we must be both willing and able.
Why am I taking such exception to this seemingly innocuous meme? While there are many reasons, let this simple one suffice: that it sets people up for frustration and failure. Mere choice is not a sufficient strategy for cultivating a capacity for authentic unconditional love. Equipped only with "choice", a person will invariably encounter obstacles and impediments, which require additional wisdom and resources to transcend. When faced with these challenges, anyone gullible enough to take this meme's simplistic message at face value would find themselves in a downward spiral of frustration as they attempt to will their way to unconditional love. Psshhh!
Capacity to love unconditionally requires a great deal more than this. Before we can effectively choose unconditional love, we need at the very least a rudimentary understanding of what "unconditional love" means and a recognition that this level of love actually exists. Many humans have little or no reference point for this and therefore have little hope that it is possible to experience or express this kind of love. Even when we have gained enough understanding and recognition to motivate a choice for love, we still need to heal the painful memories and patterns in our energy fields which impede and distort love. As we heal, we build our capacity to hold a progressively stronger and stronger charge in our fields for the powerful energy of love.
As humans, our capacity to love is an evolutionary process. We are on a journey (both individually and collectively) to develop our ability to love and then learn to create from this foundation of pure love. However, as a species, humans still have considerable room for growth in this area.
If the ability to love unconditionally was as easy as a simple decision, I assure you the world would already be filled with unconditional love. Why? Because love feels good. Anyone who has ever experienced authentic unconditional love will attest to the fact that there is no greater feeling in the world. It flows through you, illuminating your energy field, opening your heart with joy. It sings in your blood. It calls forth what is highest and best in all it touches. If unconditional love were merely a matter of making a cognitive choice, we'd be making that choice every minute of every day. Unfortunately for the meme writers of this world, it is much more complex than that.
This isn't microwave-style transformation: just press the "Choose" button and 3 minutes later "Ding!" There it is: unconditional love, warm and ready to pop on your proverbial plate. The journey of love does require a choice, but it also requires tenacious commitment, along with an generous helping of wit, wisdom and a dollop of whimsy.
Fortunately, we do not undertake this journey alone. We are supported in every moment by the collective consciousness of all Humanity and of Nature. As we develop our capacity to connect and align with this loving support, we heal, grow and learn to express and receive love with ever greater grace and ease. We are transformed. Love becomes, not a cognitive choice, but a naturally arising way of being.
by Ananaia R O'Leary
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