3 Perspective Shifts to Reclaim Your Pleasure & Peace

by | May 15, 2017 | WILD WOMAN | 2 comments

 

So often we think that fulfillment and happiness is caused by external occurrences – great news, a special occasion, someone or something “out there.” However, our greatest times of peace & pleasure can often come from simple shifts in our perspective or understanding of what is – without need for anything external to change.

 

In light of our exploration of Pleasure this Moon Cycle (April 26th – May 24th), I offer you these 3 perspective shifts to help you reclaim your pleasure & peace. Please take what is useful and disregard the rest.

 

1 – Allow & Accept the Full Variation of the Human Experience.

 

The Pattern: So often, we have a tendency of resisting what is. Whether we are toning down the belly laugh that wants to roar out of us or choking back the tears that need to fall – there is some part of us which is holding back, editing, resisting the flow of our inner life.

 

The Shift: To be alive means that we will inevitably experience pleasure & pain, joy & sorrow, darkness & light. These variations of the inner experience make the soil of our life rich, so that we can grow. If we can fully allow pleasure to be experienced as it arises in us, and fully allow pain to move through us when it comes – we are gifted the range of feeling that comes with being alive & the wholeness of life, itself.

 

In his work, The Prophet, the Lebanese-American poet, Kahlil Gibran shares:
“When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.”
The Aim: Instead of clinging to pain or pleasure, light or dark, allow it all. Do not resist what is; experience all of it – fully. It is in this allowing that you may be surprised to find peace.

 

2 – Remember the interdependence of all that is.

 

The Pattern: “I thought I was the only one.” I’ve heard variations on this statement again & again in Women’s Circles & gatherings here at the Project. If we are part of a culture or a community or a family in which speaking about the inner experience is unusual or taboo, in both our challenges and joys, we may feel isolated. This perception of isolation can be detrimental to our well-being.

 

The Shift: The Scottish-American naturalist & environmental philosopher, John Muir wrote, “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.” Just like everything in nature, we are connected, in some way, to everything that is. It is in the opening to this connection, that brings a deep sense of pleasure and peace.

 

The Aim: The next time you feel alone in your experience, remember that you are connected to the great family here on earth. Seek out connection to like-hearted people and/or friends & guides in the beings of the natural world.

 

3 – Be rebellious to the cultural norm; Prioritize your pleasure.

 

The Pattern: While curled up enjoying great book, sipping on a yummy cup of tea, nervous system relaxed – finally, that familiar critical voice creeps in: “Isn’t there something productive you could be doing? I can’t believe you are wasting your time! You are so lazy! [insert your critical thought pattern]” Many of us, particularly in the Western World, have been taught to equate our self-worth with our level of productivity leading to a overtired, overstressed, overmedicated generation of human beings.

 

The Shift: Balancing the scales of Masculine & Feminine forces in the world & in ourselves requires, first, an acknowledgement that we have come to celebrate the Solar/Masculine (doing & productivity), while forgetting the gift of the Lunar/Feminine (being & receptivity). We have become burnt out, like crops who have never had the gift of night.
Part of the reason we focus on the Wild Woman Archetype here at the Project is because she carries in her a rebellion that is very much needed now. We simply cannot go on living the way we have been. The Wild Woman asks us to question what we’ve been told & to listen deeply to the voice of guidance which comes from within.

 

The Aim: Embrace the Feminine aspect within & honor it by allowing yourself space to be, to feel, to enjoy, to listen deeply, to open like a flower in spring. If prioritizing your pleasure means rebelling against the norm, then rebel, Wild Woman, rebel.

 

Experiment: If you feel the call this week, choose one of these 3 to work with, to integrate into your life. Choose the one that excites you or rings true. Write about it, sit with it, live into it a bit. See what happens.

 

To embody our pleasure, to find our peace – this is part of the great awakening on Earth which we are all a part of.
In Love,
Chris
 

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2 Comments

  1. Nancy Powers
    Nancy Powers on May 15, 2017 at 2:16 pm

    Really enjoyed this. #1 reminds me yin-yang. It’s hard sometimes not to suppress my feelings because of possible consequences.,so I ball it all up inside and comes out in other unhealthy ways. One for me to ponder for sure, thank you for quoting 2 of my old favorites, Gibran and John Muir,
    Hope you have a good trip home and the sun shines on you when you get back,
    Loved the Mother’s Day card and magnet, love you, Chris. I know it’s been a struggle for both of you reaching goals with the move. Seems like a lot in life doesn’t go as we envision it, I imagine you must be struggling with “roaring out” to “patience my dear”
    Hopefully we will get to see you this summer, I mis you both very much.
    Hugs, Nancy

    Reply
  2. Rafah
    Rafah on May 17, 2017 at 6:31 am

    Thank you, Chris. I really needed to hear this, as I’m sure many of us do. I’ve been too bundled up in my own suffering to realise that I need to just allow it to flow; that it’s part and parcel of life. Thank you for your gentle reminder. Praying that all is well for you, and that you are getting as much support as we get from you 🙂

    Reply

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