Saturday, February 28, 2009

Waiting for the Irresistible...


My decision to walk the Camino came as a quiet, urgent desire. It was like a small seed, planted deep in the earth, pushing upward toward the light and warmth.

The poor little plant was almost trampled under the plans and agendas of the busy world around me!

In a world that generally honors logic and checklists, goal-setting and efficiency, promotions and paychecks, we often fail to recognize our own needs and desires. We rush around designing, planning, consulting, outlining, budgeting...controlling. We fail to take time to dream or to feel.

In the past few years I have been consciously cultivating the capacity to listen to my heart and my feelings. (Events in my life have conspired to lead me back to this way of living more simply and making better choices.)

In the past few years I have nurtured dreams and waited for them to unfold like the blossoms on a rose. The seed has grown, the foilage is lush and green, the buds are ready to burst into flower.

So I am walking the Camino this April. And what's next? I do not know, but we shall see ...meanwhile, I am expectantly (and gratefully) waiting and anticipating…no checklists or outline, just openess and wonder.

Yesterday I read a wonderful post from the Great Work Blog. (michael@boxofcrayons.biz ) See the excerpt below and you will understand what I mean when I quote Cate Blabchett, “I’ll just wait for the next irresistible thing.”

I hope you do too!

_________EXCERPT FOLLOWS_________
“I’ll just wait for the next irresistible thing”Posted: 12 Jan 2009 03:28 AM CST

Cate Blanchett: possibly the best actor in the world at the moment, a stunning talent and beautiful too … and being Australian is just the cherry on the cake.

She’s the cover story of this month’s Vanity Fair, and manages to come across as wise.

When asked “what’s next?” her answer is a beauty:

“I’ll just wait for the next irresistible thing.”

In that simple answer lies wisdom that allows Great Work to flourish:
* Trust that the next great thing will show up
* A willingness to wait for it
* An ability to keep awareness and space open so, when it does show up, there’s the capacity to receive it

What does “irresistible” look like to you in the work that you do?

And how are you holding the space open enough so that you’ll notice it when it shows up?

______________EXCERPT ENDS_____________

2 comments:

Caminante said...

Tonight or tomorrow I will be posting some meditations on preparation for walking the Camino, being a pilgrim and arrival I did for a quiet day at my church. (This note is not spam!) It comes from someone whose life was changed by the Camino (my avatar is a photo of boots outside a gîte d'étape in the Pyrenées on the Chemin de Saint Jacques) and who wants to go back some day. I have walked the entire route from Le Puy, France to Santiago over four years, a total of 60 days. So I have been greatly enjoying your blog and will follow you in heart and spirit when you go. In any event, the URL (which you could find by clicking on my 'name') is inspirationpilgrimage at blogspot etc. I hope someday to put up photos of all the stages but at least you'll get a feel for some of the Alteplano (which I walked in 2007).

¡Buen camino! ¡Y buena preparación!

Virginia ("Ginn") said...

Caminante - I discovered your blogs a while back and enjoyed reading your observations. (FYI: I love cats too!) I will look for your updates. Thanks for your gracious note.

Life is good...

"Ginn"
Off to Dine with Habitat for Humanity Folks