The “salad garden” on the deck is loaded with peas and an assortment of greens. Safe from hungry rabbits and like so many gardens this year – it is exploding with vibrancy. When I sit down in the rocker the lettuce is at eye level. This is a different perspective for me as greens usually grow out in the regular garden and I don’t see the daily activity – who knew there was so much going on in the lettuce bed? The new view allows me to watch spiders weave their web and gently mourn the flies who do not see said web and get caught in its glue.
This morning I noticed a little green worm on a leaf of arugula. It was surrounded by webbing, and with the spider in my memory, I wondered if I should save it. A voice in my head said, “Let Nature Be,” so I watched. I found the worm moving with great intention, and instead of struggling to get out of the web, it was actually spinning itself into a type of cocoon. At first the space looked too big for such a tiny worm. But as I watched, I realized there would need to be a bigger holding place created because the transformation would be expansive and the moth it was to become needed more space than the tiny worm it is today.
Life brings us cycles of stability, stretching, challenge and times of great transformation. Its rhythms offer us the opportunity to become a more expanded version of who we are today. Each of us has a call within us to become who we are meant to be. As resiliency and awareness grow, we expand to live differently; to live more full versions of our self.
Like the small worm, there is often a need for us to pull back from activity, to go inward to a place of quiet, allowing ample space to be created in our lives in order to bring about the transformation. We must create a cocoon so that transformation can occur. This space can be a silent meditation in the morning, or an extended retreat away. It can be learning to say “no” and mean it. Or it can take on a form that is as individual as you.
Joseph Campbell reminds us, “We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” Life calls to us. We choose our response. How will you answer the call to live a more expanded version of you? Take time this weekend to consider were you are in the cycle of stability, stretching, challenge or transformation. What is one thing you can do to create space for your soul this weekend?
I am off to spin my cocoon. Resiliency Revitalizers will return in August.
Create the life you want to experience,
Andrea
Andrea Tatley 