emergentfield

A labyrinth of legacies woven together as human condition,

Each an intricate maze of unfolding mystery.

Wall-ways and hallways merge endlessly to serve a higher good,

Seen only from the mountaintop, while we still inhabit the plain.

Awaken, oh Master of Destiny, and see our conjoined blueprint.

Notice how we explain our being-ness through doing-ness.

Building, building, building, always building,

Toward some grander vision, without sense to question its purpose.

Angry not, Destiny holds its seeds of knowing,

For another hour, another day, another year.

When will we sit still long enough to hear the river flowing through our hearts,

And transform the terrain into canals of healing for the planet?

Wash over me, Water of Compassion, and break down this toughened skin.

Allow the meat of my being to soften and sprout sweet vines.

Come brothers.  Come sisters.  Grow, too.

And reclaim this congested landscape of weathered brick and mortar.

Restore it to the lush, impassioned wilderness of innocence,

And weave together a new legacy of love.

I distinctly remember the moment I fully embodied humility.  I awoke one morning to the southern California sun streaming in through the pale pink curtains of my bedroom.  As I looked toward the source of light, it seemed to surround me and I noticed everything was glowing.  There was an amazing stillness to the light.  I felt my sameness.  I was the wall.  I was the window.  I was the tree through the window.

In that moment I was one with everything.  I was not better than or less than or more or less deserving.  There was no deserving.  In the same breath I saw the state of things in my personal world.  It was as if time had stopped.  Future thoughts of “when this happens, then I will…” were unavailable to me.  The past, too, was non-existent.

With complete humility, I embraced and embodied the truth.  It was an exquisitely painful truth.  From the balance in my bank account, to the lack of a significant other to my relationships with my children, this was my life.  There was no space for wishing for it to be different or rewriting the past to fit a better version of reality.  This was my life.  This is my life.

I felt a sense of shock.  I was one with the wall and the window and the tree.  And my current condition was part of that oneness, in all of its mess and upheaval and insignificance.  I cried tears of joy and tears of pain and tears of acceptance.  My heart broke, again and again and again for all the loss in my life.  It broke until it ceased to exist.  I was one with the reality.  I did not push it away, or attempt to think differently or reframe it.  There was nothing to reframe – it was not a positive or a negative or anything in-between.  No judgment.  No comparing or contrasting.  No denial.  No bargaining.

I have experienced ego death many times on my journey – this was somehow different. The context was different.  I was present to the “both-and” of existence in such a way that bliss was available to me even as I embraced my deep humility.  It felt like all the fibers of my being were pulled apart and rewoven into the fabric of the universe.  “I” became “we” became “us” became “one” became “ahhhh.”

What would it feel like to just be still?  To allow the light to wash over you?  How does humility make itself known in your life?  How will you hold space for the “both-and” in all things?  What would happen if you let go of the need to be significant?

One of the first awarenesses on the (s)hero’s journey comes in the form of embodiment.  It is when we are fully present to the moment with a humble heart that we are able to see, hear and feel the Spirit of Synchronicity, or what Joseph Campbell calls supernatural assistance.  Embodiment is the foundation of the journey.  It is where we anchor ourselves, and return, time and time again, to recalibrate, redirect, remember.

The Spirit of Synchronicity visits us when we are in a fully embodied state, providing a connection to things previously unseen.  Be it the simple phone call from someone that has been on your mind, to the perfect book dropping from the shelf, synchronicity is present.

When we are fully present to our current condition, the past and future are as one.  We are open without constrictions, limitations, ego attachments.  We humbly embody the “what is-ness” of life.  It is from this inexhaustible center, Campbell states, that life comes into being:

“When you can get rid of fear and desire and just get back to where you’re becoming, you’ve hit the spot. The source doesn’t care what happens once it gives into being.  It’s the giving and coming into being that counts, and that’s the becoming life point in you.”

Notice how fear and desire take you out of the present moment.  It’s like focusing on an image, closing one eye and then the other.  The image jumps back and forth.  Our vision is skewed.  When we look at life through both eyes, through awareness, fully conscious, embodied in the present, we see clearly.  And, guidance reveals itself.

How will you recalibrate and remember your embodied state?  How would it feel to let go of fear and desire and just be?  How will you stay open to receiving supernatural assistance and guidance?

There is a single precious moment that exists as the utterance of yes moves from heart to voice to the emergent field. This is the moment of presence. The moment of NOW.  It is the moment of Goethe’s promise…

“…the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too.  All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.  A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.”

In that moment a change happens on all levels.  Synapses in the brain begin a fireworks display that brightens the way for all manner of possibility, igniting ideas and reviving cells long dormant.  Much as imaginal cells are awakened in the caterpillar, signaling its descent into non-ordinary reality, so is the human condition fundamentally altered.

What happens, in that moment, from the perspectives of both science and religion, constitutes a miracle.  A quantum event occurs sending out signals across all dimensional plains, resulting in a wave pattern rocketing across universal consciousness.  Every thing is possible.  It is the in-breath.  It is the anticipation of the surprise.  It is the moment before any doubt or dis-order enters the field.

And then the out-breath.  This is the space when mystery meets moment; the most telling and influential moment on the journey. This out-breath will determine the level of openness and/or resistance to universal assistance.  Welcome to creative-tension.  How will you stay present in this moment?  Will your heart remain in anticipation of the surprise?  What would it feel like to leave room for Goethe’s promise to actualize?  How will you welcome unseen incidents conspiring in your favor?

Sometimes the most challenging part of giving a full-hearted yes to the journey is letting go of what no longer serves us.  Saying yes to one thing means that we are saying no to something else.  There is often a desire to keep our options open and a feeling that if we commit to something, we will lose our options.  While this is entirely true in one sense, it is equally true that saying yes opens a whole new set of possibilities.

In fact, our desire to keep our options open often has the opposite affect.  Lack of commitment can keep us stuck in a perpetual cycle.  Stuck energy accounts for lack of motivation, depression and even illness.  I have repeatedly worked with clients that have felt a calling to something and yet haven’t committed to it.  They feel lost, scared, depressed and confused.  These feelings are attributed to a worry about what they will lose if they say yes to their calling.  Loss is part of the journey.  It is inevitable.  And, choosing not to commit is also a loss – the loss of fulfilling one’s potential and deepest desires.

In the end, it is a choice about living fully, open to possibility, journeying toward life mastery.  It is a choice made with a brave heart.  It is a choice that says the things that are left behind are not serving the process any longer.  It is a choice to say no to whatever stands in the way.  Is it any wonder so many of us stay confused and unsure? Saying yes isn’t just about saying yes, it is also about saying no.

What are the things standing in your way?  What keeps you from your dreams?  What, until now, have you been unwilling to let go of?  What would it take for you to give a full-hearted yes to your life?  How will you say no to what is no longer serving you from a space of grace and dignity?

Yes, in and of itself, is an incredibly powerful word.  It opens doors, heals relationships, begins and ends wars and tells the truth. Or betrays.  Depending on the delivery.  From the Old English “gese” or “so be it,” yes invokes a new state, a new way, a new paradigm.

Yes begins with openness, a state of willingness to see infinite potential; a state of willingness to suspend judgment; a state of willingness to let go of limited beliefs.  In this openness the universe is present in all things.  The window and the tree beyond it are one.  Everything is connected at the deepest level and we are part of that connection.

When we say yes, our actual physiology changes in response. While conscious decisions cause intricate neuron activity in the cortex, striatum, thalamus and limbic processes of the brain, cortical motor function is also put on alert.  This suggests that, not only are neuropathways at a heightened state of cognitive attention, the body itself is ready for action.  Yes is not a passive state. It requires follow-through, further decision-making and a commitment to the process.

With our mind and body completely engaged by the simple utterance of “yes,” what might be possible?  And, how did we come to this state in the first place?

So, how does one become open? Openness is simply the re-remembering of our connection.  It is re-connecting. It is a relaxing.  It is breathing into.  Openness most frequently happens when the brain slows itself down to the theta and delta wave patterns present in meditation, deep relaxation and sleep.  Ironically, the initial stage of saying yes requires slowing down, not speeding up.  Yes is birthed in reflection, contemplation and awareness.

In a state of re-remembering our connection, our awareness is heightened and we receive insight.  Now comes the rub.  Do we trust our insight, our knowing?  For so many, trust is based on beliefs and measures outside of ourselves.  We allow the thoughts, feelings, experiences and advice of others to shape our own perceptions of the world.  While there may be wisdom in learning from others, it is not the best place to set our inner compass.  Cultivating the capacity to hear and trust our inner knowing is as much a development stage as learning to walk.

Radical trust in our knowing keeps ambivalence and uncertainty at bay.  Trust gives us the confidence to move forward with conviction, aligning our thoughts and actions into a cohesive, vision-driven process.  When our action is directed from clarity and inner knowing, we have access to the emergent field and its synergistic energy.  This almost magical quality attracts other people with information and resources to support our journey.

As I listen to the emergent field for stories and patterns and themes, I am struck with the images of crumbling buildings.  Instead of a natural disaster like a hurricane or earthquake or flood, our global community is faced with the crumbling of an economic system, pieces of which impact everyone and everything on the planet in some way.

I listen with love and compassion to the stories of my clients, friends and colleagues, as they convey investment catastrophes, lay-off notices, downsizing, restructuring and a generalized worry and concern for the state of the economy.  I contemplate the architecture necessary to build a new vision of an earth-based economic model alongside the crumbling consumer/market-based model.  I even occasionally rant about my idealistic and naive notions and my desire to somehow make a difference, have an impact, in this time of transition and transformation.

This morning I woke with a knowing.  Do you ever have those moments, where you just know the right thing to do?  I knew what to do.  And my heart about left my chest at the fear of it.  The knowing:  Tell your story.  Tell them that you understand, and that they can rebuild, just as you have and still are.  The fear: I am terrified of being visible and vulnerable and judged for what I have gone through.

For you see, I have been where some of you are now.  I have lost everything.  And I mean everything: I lost my home, my marriage, my social status, my relationships with friends and family, my financial security, my legal rights, my civil rights, my dignity, my respect, my self-esteem, my personal power, and most painfully and significantly, my children. The how of it may be less important right now to all of you, than that it happened.  To me.  And that it is happening, to others. Right now.

It is the fear of what it all means and how we will survive that really foreshadows everything.  It is the fear of “who am I now?” that paralyzes us or compels us into frantic action. Or worse, brings to the surface an underlying long dormant dread that one is fated to fail.

I know what it feels like to be faced with the complete annihilation of a dream, of a way of life, of my life.  I know what it feels like to wake up in fear on a daily basis and go to bed in fear on a daily basis, day after day, year after year.  And I know what it feels like to not see a way out, to feel like it will never get better, to feel like the pain must stop or you will have to do something drastic to stop it, once and for all.

Even for me, the eternal “infinite possibility queen,” there were times that I felt I was being eaten alive from the inside out.  Worry and fear and anxiety became my constant companions.  Dread and shame became my cloak, self-hatred my heart’s worst enemy.

Inspiring words from an Executive Life Coach, huh?

I only tell you this to let you know that no matter what is happening in your life right now — no matter how many thousands or millions you have lost in the stock market, no matter how many pink slips have been distributed in your company — this is not the end of the journey. While it may sound cliché or perhaps patronizing, please hear past that first gut response for the rest of the message.

The message is that a new way, a new beginning is emerging.  If I, an often insecure, highly sensitive and self-deprecating lost soul can find my way out of utter darkness, I believe for you that you can, too.  I believe this for you, because I can now, because I have in the past, and because I know so many of you and the beauty in your hearts and the longing in your souls and the truth of your essence.

This is a time for courage, a time for commitment, a time for boldness. At the beginning of my journey, one of my dearest life friends imparted these words to me from Goethe:

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too.  All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.  A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.  Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.”

Some of you may be at the beginning of one of the most profound hero’s/shero’s journeys of your entire life.  Nothing, and I mean nothing will change without saying yes to this journey.  Even as you read this, crumbling pieces of your life may be falling around you.  You are not alone.  Many are where you are.  Many have been where you are.  I have been where you are.  I encourage and support your declaration of Yes to the journey ahead of you.

I trust for you that the new model, the new life that you build will be more fulfilling and rich, more meaningful and full of purpose, and of course, more pleasurable than ever before.  Say yes.

Welcome to the new frontier where the keys to thriving are embraced in awarenesses present in the EMERGENT FIELD…

How would you feel if you were fully present in each and every moment, savoring life’s beauty?

Welcome to full EMBODIMENT.

What if every moment of your life was filled with delight and childlike wonder?

Welcome to the nature of ESSENCE.

How would it be to see your world through a kaleidoscope of infinite possibility?

Welcome to the realm of EXPANSIVE.

What if you lived life awash in the synergistic flow of the Universe?

Welcome to the field of the EMERGENT.

How would it feel to see the world through the eyes and perspective of those around you?

Welcome to the EMPATHIC.

What would be possible if you brought together the pleasure, passion and purpose of people in a collaborative and playful way?

Welcome to the openness of ENGAGEMENT.

What if you understood everything to be connected and lived in the joy of that connection?

     Welcome to the essence of ENLIGHTENMENT.

Explore the space…between time.  Where chaos is organized by AWARENESS…

The Emergent Field is the intersection between the linear and the non-linear, the seen and the unseen, the known and the mystery.  It is the space where divergent energies begin to converge and synergy ignites the formation of new paradigms.  It is the field in which past and future convene into the NOW.

Those who have the ability to traverse the expansive and discern harmonious patterns in its seemingly chaotic rhythms will emerge masters of multiple worlds and hero’s of their own destiny.

Say YES to the journey and join me on the expedition…