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transcending

inspiration & influence transcending

Courage to ride the Wheel of Fortune

December 19, 2016

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The Wheel of Fortune

The ‘Wheel of Fortune’ tarot card has been popping up for me for a while now raising questions about courage in the face of uncertainty.

It first arrived in April this year via a personalised reading by the fabulous Marianne aka @twosidestarot and featuring the dynamic Sakki Sakki tarot deck.

At that time, ‘The Wheel of Fortune’ was intersecting closely with the ‘The Moon’ in a broader reading that generally indicated change was afoot. An attitude of surrender and also of ‘throwing my hat into the ring’ was encouraged. As Marianne’s beautifully worded reading explained:

The best way to approach The Wheel is to surrender our attachment to the outcome and take a risk anyway. It is a super bold move, it takes a lot of courage and strength, but I think it’s a good hand to have up your sleeve as you navigate this period.

This initial introduction and the events that have ensued have indeed shown me firsthand that ‘The Wheel of Fortune’ can be a very wild and spontaneous ride, with much of it outside my control. Events have also reinforced that trust, courage, risk-taking and actually learning to enjoy the ride despite the uncertainty are part of the challenge.

Embracing uncertainty

It’s made me think about my own relationship with carnival rides over the years. When I was younger, I wasn’t naturally keen on wild rides like roller-coasters. Over time, I taught myself to enjoy the speed, the excitement and the wind in my hair. As I got older, I became more afraid again and more reticent to take the risk to enjoy the moment. And later in life, that side of me that enjoys a bit of wildness and uncertainty has reappeared.

In one instance, I was the only one in my family wanting to go on a roller coaster ride. I consequently found myself sitting with a ride-savvy nine year old who had great pleasure in hinting about the approaching terrors. It was great to feel the acceleration and speed of the turns and again embrace uncertainty.

Playing a role in change

Just as I have had a changing relationship with rides over the years, so our own relationship with change can be a factor. ‘The Wheel of Fortune’ card has continued to arrive reminding me about the big picture and the need to ‘expect the unexpected’. Most recently, it appeared via Dame Darcy’s Mermaid tarot, this time with the image of the Wheel of Fortune as a ship’s wheel:

wheel of fortune 4

As Wikipedia tells us:

A ship’s wheel or boat’s wheel is a device used aboard a water vessel to change that vessel’s course.

I like the imagery of this card suggesting that while life changes around us, we can play a role in changing course and influencing outcomes by taking risks, perhaps also with a little research and navigating.

For me, this latest journey is about shifting more into the realm of inner life and spirit. So whilst I can play an active role to some extent, some of this landscape is unfamiliar and the horizon is uncertain. I can see that the journey is ultimately about self-transformation, spiritual growth and expansiveness. Looking for opportunities for learning and growth as I traverse this time is critical.

As Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom reminds me:

The Wheel spins our fate. We can ride it – or gamble with it. Life is a game of chance and the Big Wheel symbolises the joy of playing the game.

It’s important to look beyond the current situation to see the broader map, the tides, the whole pattern and my reaction within that context.

‘Courage is not just the absence of fear’

This has also made me think about courage at this time. As Colette Baron-Reid wisely explains with reference to her oracle card ‘Sacred Pool’ in The Enchanted Map deck (in the protection position):

Remember that you have a responsibility not just to yourself but to the Divine spark within you. Courage is not just the absence of fear. Accept the discomfort of seeing with clear eyes and you’ll soon find that wondrous adventures are awaiting for you. Step into your magical life. Take the leap of faith.

Those words – ‘discomfort’ and ‘leap of faith’ echo the sentiment that it’s not always to effect change especially in unfamiliar terrain. Sometimes you have to sacrifice certainty for progress, feeling secure for being challenged and being comfortable for seeing things from a new and deeper perspective.

Around that same time, Lisa McLoughlin’s Plant Ally card ‘Courage’ also made an appearance asking very directly:

What brave steps can you take to move forward?

courage

Trusting intuition

Ironically, I think the bravest steps are actually the vaguest: trusting my intuition and embracing it.

I am an INTJ Myers-Briggs personality type so introverted intuition is my dominant gift. Whilst it’s an orientation that is naturally strong, I need to value and activate it more in my life now as a guiding light. Courage is indeed a step beyond just not being afraid. It’s about actively taking on this uncertain journey where the word ‘spirit’ is making an ever increasing appearance.

It’s about embracing these intuitive powers as a gift rather than something I secretly rely on and don’t really understand. It is about learning about this power, communicating it and using it to connect with others, with spirit and with my calling which is finding its way forward.

So the courage to ride ‘The Wheel of Fortune’ and navigate its surprises is essentially within, spirited by deep connection and collective identity:

But enlightenment is a deeply personal experience. It cannot be studied or even pondered but only lived. The series of outer lessons culminate in the Wheel of Fortune which shows us a vision of the world and ourselves which must be answered.

Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom, Rachel Pollack (p71)

So I’m bravely stepping into uncertainty, going on that ride, turning that wheel and surveying the landscape. Must say, despite the strangeness, it’s riveting and I hope to share more of this with you as I venture forth into this new terrain.

I’d love to hear from you: Where in your life are you riding on The Wheel of Fortune and finding the courage to leap?

wheel of fortune

Thought pieces

Uncharted – by Colette Baron-Reid is my current read. It’s an excellent guide for navigating the uncharted waters of intuition and spirit.

Two Sides Tarot has Daily Weather reports on Instagram, essential reading for me every morning. It’s great to be learning about tarot each day as well as checking the weather for the day. Marianne’s tarot readings are beautifully written and insightful. Plus there are tarot decks for sale with free postage for those in Australia.

Let’s support those living and writing intuitively!

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love, loss & longing transcending

This past week, this year

December 23, 2014

IMG_0869This past week was long and difficult. Monday last week started as it usually does – off to work, getting organised for the week and at this time, getting ready for Christmas celebrations and a final busy week before winding down for the festive season.

About 10am on that Monday, everything changed with the news of the siege close by in the Lindt Cafe in Martin Place. Like many other Sydney workers, I found myself in lockdown, then being evacuated, then unable to return to the workplace.

And emotionally connected to the unfolding events.

The overwhelming feelings were of horror for the hostages and intense terror for their helplessness and fate. Like much of the country, I watched for hours into the night, breath held in a surreal landscape of fear of what might happen.

The early hours brought the news of the tragic outcome.

In the following days, the mood has been sombre, a different atmosphere on the train into the city, a sense of collective sadness. The flowers cascading their way down Martin Place reflecting this.

Many of us, it seems, have in our individual ways reflected, been touched, reassessed much.

For me, the return to my office and buying my morning coffee filled me with sudden and overwhelming emotion. The ordinary every day action of so many Sydney-siders suddenly poignant in the aftermath.

The sense of vulnerability, that it could have been me or so many people close to me. The harsh reality of its randomness.

The collective response has been heartening though sad: the growing sea of flowers reflecting the grief of so many individuals pieced together; the emerging sweet fragrance in the air; the multi-faith ceremonies and statements of support and the solidarity across religious boundaries that re-emphasise that we are all one community; the wave of support for Muslim women and others possibly affected by intolerance arising from this event.

IMG_0856I have engaged with Susannah Conway’s December Reflections, 2014 this month. It has been a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the year and as always with Susannah’s initiatives, a chance to reignite our own creativity and look around us with new eyes.

At the end of the week, the day 20 prompt in December Reflections was “this year was…”. I have to say this year has been intense for many reasons. But as the events of recent days have reminded me, there is much to be thankful for: supportive and loving family, friends, work colleagues; having a beautiful city in which to live and work; summer arriving; creativity always; books to read; maybe books to write; and the power of collective feeling..

This year and these past days have reminded me of what is of value.

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inspiration & influence transcending

Choiceless as a beach – a photo essay

November 9, 2014

The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. To dig for treasures shows not only impatience and greed, but lack of faith. Patience, patience, patience, is what the sea teaches. Patience and faith. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach – waiting for a gift from the sea.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh – Gift from the Sea

It’s been the usual busy, a constant onslaught of work and travel and the ongoing struggle to create. The occasional day off work in the working week comes. A day to myself. A day to wander, to have coffee, to read, to walk the streets of my village, to scramble on the rocks, to stand in rock-pools, to look out at the water, to wade into the gentle waves lapping, to sit under a tree in the shade reading and watching others walk by and the boats, with the flutter of the intense sun on the water, the horizon out- stretched.

And to take photos, to snap the images of all this, the piece that can capture the release and the beauty of the place and the day and its utter choicelessness. No decisions, no pressure, no impatience. Just observing, seeing, watching what the walk, the day, the sea brings in its waves of moments and tides.

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4 feet in the water

5 feet in water & shells

 

7 shell 1

8 shell 2

9 shell 3

10 waves on the shore

11 sea treasures

12 reading on the beach

13 water bird on the shore

14 view backwards

inspiration & influence transcending

Reminders to shine

February 23, 2014

Waterford Crystal, IrelandThis week a number of reminders to shine.

Firstly a lovely, lovely post How to Shine Your Light, Even When You Don’t Feel Whole from @tinybuddha read on the morning train to work one day, the final words:

Perhaps there will be times that you feel less than whole, but when those moments come, encourage yourself to remember a time when you made the world a more positive place. Regardless of where you are on your path, that moment mattered.

And on that same train trip, I read an instagram post from @talepeddlerjo Australian author, Josephine Pennicott, with some beautiful words from ‘When I am among the trees’, by Mary Oliver:

Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”

A reminder to be restful, grounded and to shine.

And finally, that same day, after a busy day, travelling the last leg by car through trees, the words from ‘Yellow’ that often come back to me and connect me to my brother:

Look at the stars, look how they shine for you and everything you do

So many reminders to shine, all in one day.

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poetry transcending

Remembering Sylvia Plath

February 11, 2014

Sylvia Plath's grave at sunset, Heptonstall, West YorkshireI visited Sylvia Plath’s resting place at Heptonstall in May last year. Coming from the other side of the world, I had somehow ended up in Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire without any forward planning to be able to honour the poet whose work had impacted me so much over the years.

We had dinner at the Stubbing Wharf Hotel – a place where Sylvia had also had dinner I later discovered. Then we ventured up the steep hill at twilight to Heptonstall.

It was quiet and still, the sun was setting, daffodils bright against the grey light and headstones. There was just my partner and me there in the cool air. It was so peaceful and I was able to silently honour Sylvia’s memory with thanks for all that her writing has meant to me.

On this anniversary of her death, I remember that quiet evening in Heptonstall and reflect on Sylvia Plath’s poetry and its value to me. These words of Sylvia’s run through my head:

Surely the great use of poetry is its pleasure– not its influence as religious or political propaganda. Certain poems and lines of poetry seem as solid and miraculous to me as church altars or the coronation of queens must seem to people who revere quite different images. I am not worried that poems reach relatively few people. As it is, they go surprisingly far–among strangers, around the world, even. Farther than the words of a classroom teacher or the prescriptions of a doctor; if they are very lucky, farther than a lifetime.”

Sylvia Plath, from her essay “Context”, The London Magazine, February 1962

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blogging transcending

Keeping transcending

December 3, 2013

Keeping transcending Yes it’s been quiet here…nearly three months to be precise but who’s counting.

I’ve missed it here, creating these pieces of me to put out into the world. It’s been hard to get back to it, a combination as always of work pressures, plus more travel time. I am working further from home and in a new, exciting and intense job role that has required my highest attention and priority.

And then there’s ‘Transcending’ itself, as the blog, as the practice it talks about: ‘strategies for rising above, cutting through and connecting…’ In the strangest of ways, the practice of writing the blog itself enacts this, how I have to keep coming back and revitalising it.

Many times I have nearly stopped writing here altogether especially after a break such as this. I’ve nearly given up on it so many times.

But it’s important to keep going, to keep transcending and to think about what I have achieved, why I do it and write here, the reasons for it, who has helped me and been on the journey with me and what I hope for ‘Transcending’ into the future.

So what have I achieved?

I started this blog in May 2010 and in between busy job roles, I’ve kept writing and creating its content, even if there have been gaps at times. The wonderful ‘Blog in Review’ report for my blog for 2012 sent from WordPress is insightful. I have revisited it now to help me see what I have achieved and what else I can do to keep the momentum and to do it better and more often.

The report told me there were 2400 views in 2012 alone. That might not seem many to some with bigger audiences but to me, it is staggering. I have now created an archive or body of work of 88 posts since May 2010. That’s probably about a post every three weeks. I could be more regular in my work here and write shorter posts more often, but in the circumstances of my life and full-time work role, I’m claiming it as an achievement.

My busiest day so far yielded some 197 views of a single post and I am proud of this and grateful – it was thanks to mentions posted by friends in the blogosphere and especially Tammy at RowdyKittens and a flow on from her extensive readership. It reminds me of the continuing need to visit others and spread the pleasure of their work as well, repaying the kindness. And to be thankful.

My top posts of all time are:

Poetry: into the light

Working your introvert

The value of howling into the wind

Poetry: Optical Illusions

About stillness

My 2012 ‘Blog in Review’ report tells me:

Some of your most popular posts were written before 2012. Your writing has staying power! Consider writing about those topics again.

This is good advice that I need to heed. Especially the posts on poetry, one of the major loves of my life, seem to have resonance, so this is something I can work on in moving forward. This can move both loves forward: poetry writing and blogging.

One of the main search terms that found my blog was: “theme +passion to create”. I am thrilled that I came up as a reference point under “passion to create”.

I am grateful for my blogging buddies, my referring sites, my new and enduring friends developed through Susannah Conway’s ‘Blogging from the Heart” and “Unravelling” e-courses as well as the Australian women writers and blogging communities I connect with. I am especially grateful to:

Victoria at The Mojo Lab who continues to inspire and support

Liv at When Ideas Fail for all our connections and her beautiful reflections

Tammy at Rowdy Kittens who gave me the first thrill of a flood of readers and a taste of what could be

Ellen at Choose Your Own Journey for connecting on choice and authentic journeys

Evan at Living Authentically for being such a faithful reader and commenter especially in the quiet times and for all those readers who have stayed the distance quietly

Sage at The Path of Possibility, my poetry teacher and muse who encourages me here still and to whose writing I return regularly for poetic encouragement and structure

Susannah Conway – for her blog, books, inspiration and fabulous e-courses which have kept me renewed and alive and connected with kindred souls across the world…and for being the best role model for enduring creativity ever: “using creativity to set us free”, being one of her core mantras.

I am also really grateful to all the recent people who have subscribed to my blog in the midst of its current silence – you have come from all different places especially my current Unravelling team – and I am honoured. It’s been a real spur for me to return. Thank you for your faith in me to write again.

So it seems this blog is as much about practising transcending as it is anything else. My spiritual name given to me by my yoga teacher is turiyamani – ‘transcendental jewel’ and that is very much what all this is about, finding a way to keep it happening, here and elsewhere as creatively and positively as possible. And in that, to shine.

There’s a sense of keeping on, resilience in writing here so I am going to keep transcending and not give up. I thank you for sharing the journey and hope you will stay and keep transcending also in whatever is your journey and passion, keeping the faith and the practice of what you love.

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