Find Your Place
Weekly Reading Topic for August 29, 2020:
Well, good morning, love! I just opened a Reading for you, my newsletter subscribers and here’s what I heard in answer to the following:
What do my readers most need to hear this weekend? What is the most important message to send to my beloved readers?
The answer was: “Find Your Place.”
What follows is your weekly reading, dearest one.
Weekly Reading │ Find Your Place
Q: What do we need to know about “find your place?”
A: We are entering a season of peregrination and pilgrimage, and many of you are already feeling the pull.
You look around your home, and what once felt precious and grounding feels stiff and a little dingy. You may have already thought “should I sell this place” or “I wonder if there’s a better apartment for me.” Where should you be now?
Or you still feel like you are home, and that you are in this place for the long haul. But man, it would be nice to just do that one little thing: enclose the porch, fix that stair that’s been bugging you. What would make this place feel safer, more cozy?
Or you haven’t had a place recently, you’ve been moving around, or in transition, and you are yearning for roots. What’s the perfect place for you to live?
This is a massive theme of our current days, and everyone is feeling it. How do we find, secure, and make a home?
And that’s just on the external. On the internal, we’re encountering the same questions.
Little physical aches and pains that we used to shrug off suddenly seem distractingly wasteful. Why haven’t I done that strength training? Why haven’t I taken care of that little sprain, or done the physical therapy?
Those prone to depression are suddenly realizing just how disabling carrying around a cloud on your shoulders can be. Is it time to dig deep and try a new therapy, diet, supplement — something — to get your head on straight?
And those who are fighting a long bout of covid19 symptoms — recurrence? Reinfection? — are just plain exhausted.
It feels like the season of “I’m done with this. I’m ready for a change. Time to move.”
And so we are, friends, we really are, and it really is time to move. It’s time to make choices, and to stand by our choices with confidence and knowing: when we Choose Something we are also Not Choosing Something Else.
To clear stagnation from our blood and body, we choose movement and hydration. We give up long periods of sitting, and anything that encourages that (erm, smartphone addictions will be challenged by this).
To fix that stair you might need to move the things off of it, and also to clear the area around it, which might mean you need to clean out your garage or that closet or the landing. Lots of migrating belongings — and a trip or two to make a donation.
If you’re feeling the pull to sell your home or move back with your family or take a new job, consider it. This is a time when all people are feeling pulled to Find Your Place, and if you’re not in your place, you should find it.
And even if you aren’t feeling called to move, Find Your Place applies. You may be using a room to store clutter, or neglecting your garden, or have closets full of clothes that no longer apply to your life.
Clean those out. Find Your Place underneath the clutter.
Whether you are moving physically or staying put physically, we are ALL about to embark on a pilgrimage, a peregrination that may seem odd at first, like we don’t quite know where we are going, or where we will end up. So let’s look at what is required for a pilgrimage to Find Your Place, whether that’s a physical journey or a spiritual journey.
First, remember that a pilgrimage signifies a sacred, slow, walking journey. Pilgrims don’t fly, at least not on land. They don’t buy tickets to their destinations. They walk. And when they are offered a ride, and it feels safe, they take it. But not always. They trust their own intuition and the steps of those who have made the pilgrimage before them over the timetables of public transportation.
The point of a pilgrimage is not to make it to a destination — that’s a vacation. The point of a pilgrimage is to head toward a place that will nourish you, and along the way to reflect on the wisdom you gain. Step by step you proceed, taking food as it is offered, sleeping in places that are not always elegant, and prioritizing safety and peace.
To find your place in the world requires a similar attitude. A watchful, alert engagement. A keen eye that observes your path and the people and places along the way, and counts blessings.
Pilgrims don’t carry much with them, only the necessities. They don’t sleep in the middle of the road. They don’t yell at others in public (or private). They listen more than they speak, and they greet those who seem open-hearted and pull their cowl up over their heads if they pass someone who seems aggressive. They are respectful and cautious, careful not to put anyone else out or make them ill-at-ease.
And in return, they get delicious solitude, and also deep and meaningful connections with those they do meet. In the days when pilgrimages happened regularly, there were folks who loved to open their homes to them, because the Most Interesting People Are on Pilgrimages.
And that’s you, friend. You are a Most Interesting Person.
And once you find your destination, you will know it. Just like the spring hidden on the side of the road that feels like home to the pilgrim, or the giant rock in the center of the square that symbolizes everything good and God to the pilgrim, or the fountain built into the ground and the names carved on the granite that feels like sacred ground to the pilgrim.
Whether your place is in another state or country or just down the block or in your own home, just freshly painted and rearranged, being there is a Good Thing now.
It’s time for us to go to the place that feels Strong and Whole and Good to Us. The place from which we can do our best work in the coming years. There are so many being called to do new work, including so many who feel Forced to Find New Work.
Finding Your Place will help.
So now, this weekend, make a list for yourself. What are the things you need to do to feel like you are ready for a pilgrimage? Even if you know you aren’t literally going to travel or move physically, what are the things that you can do in your life, your home, your body, your mind that will make you feel light, free, and safe?
Everyone’s list will be different. The most important guiding principle to use is this one: reduce responsibility and find leverage.
If you can make things more efficient, more sufficient, and frictionless, do it.
For example, if you realize that your tires are chronically deflated because the roads you drive are so bad, you can get a little portable tire pump to keep in your car. That will allow you to keep your tires at the correct pressure 100% of the time, and that will make your car drive better, save gas, and keep you safer.
Or if you realize that you would go to bed half an hour earlier if you didn’t have so many dishes to do, choose to minimize evening dishes as part of your meal planning. Sleep always makes things more efficient — it’s more important than dishes.
If you find yourself spending lots of time on a video game on your phone, delete it!
Donate that piece of art you’ve always hated. It’s OK, your grandmother will not really mind. Now, look: isn’t that a better living room? You have room, now, for something you love.
If you don’t know when to sell your house, call a realtor and get their opinion. You don’t need to make a final decision now, but start the process. There is magic in the beginning.
If you aren’t sure where to move, take out a map and look at the places you HAVEN’T thought of. Do an internet search and read about them. Look at their businesses and their art scene, and their school systems. You will find out so much about what you DO want by exploring places you have never considered. Zillow and Street View are your friend.
We need all the support we can get for the coming months. We need an environment, a body, and a mind that are clear of clutter and easy to manage. So: Find Your Place, even if you just do it in your own heart.
We all need to be strong, healthy and centered to manage our lives over the next very busy, very challenging few months.
Find Your Place and choose it with confidence. And remember, in the end, the body you have is your home, and your own heart and mind are the sacred ground you seek. We are all going home now, so prepare accordingly. Because once we find our places, the work continues.
“I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.” ― Nelson Mandela
So in the end, the place that feels like home to you this fall may not be your permanent, forever home — and that’s OK.
Give yourself permission to want what you want, to lighten up, to take a pilgrimage, and know that as long as you are centered in your own experience, you will always be Home. You will always Find Your Place.
I appreciate you, and your attention, and your love.
Thank you.
I am always here to serve in any way I can.
Much Love to You,
Molly
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