Thursday, December 11, 2008

From East To West

It's the middle of the night and insomnia is my companion. Dearest one is having the bed and covers all to himself. I rarely have insomnia anymore and for that I am grateful. With all the hoopla from the furnace being out yesterday, I was late in taking some medication, which usually throws my sleep schedule right out the window. A little blip on the radar screen of life. Every time there's a full or nearly full moon, and the sky is clear, once during night it shines right through the bedroom window onto my face. It feels like being kissed by God.

A few days ago I didn't get outside for my walk until the sun was just about to disappear over the horizon. At one point I thought there was a car coming up behind me. As I turned to see, I realized I had mistaken headlights for the moon breaking through the clouds. It was shining brightly on the road. It felt a little surreal. For on one side of me was the clear, dusky sky and sunset. On the other was a dark sky filled with the moon and a few stars. Between the two were dark, black clouds. I kept stopping and looking from one side to the other, in awe of the view. There are times when Creation evokes a deep gratitude within me. I stood there and whispered 'thank you' over and over again.

Last month, when I found myself in a deep funk, I took stock and asked myself what was I doing when life was at its best. What works? Two things that I had let slide from my daily routine were yoga and a 20 minutes session of meditation. That period of meditation puts me squarely in the present. Being in the present scares me. Whenever I practice this period of meditation for any stretch of time, I eventually end up abandoning it, because it shakes me up at the core. On the flip side there is also a sense that it is working within me at levels my consciousness can't touch. I've heard it referred to as 'Divine Therapy.' Over the past few weeks I have slowly returned to the discipline of meditation.

Yesterday after the 20 minutes were up I felt different. When I stopped to assess the feeling I thought to myself, "oh, I'm in my body." After years of having vacated my body due to childhood sexual abuse, it feels like an incredible gift to trust my body enough to be in it. Anytime I stop living life from the neck up is cause for celebration. I'm trusting that as I continue to heal and grow, inhabiting my body will become the norm.

Yesterday, during my time of meditation, I got this sense that who I am is enough. Right now. This moment. As is. I felt myself open up and receive that who I am is enough as Truth. What other response can one have to that except 'thank you'? It's a little like seeing the sun set on one side of the road and the moon shining brightly on the other. The whole of who I am can be embraced. Thanks be to God.

10 comments:

Peter said...

Yeah.

Pammie said...

I feel "different" all the way down to my spirit when I miss my meditation. It's awesome to "be enough".

Heidi Renee said...

Divine Therapy - LOVE that! Need to spend some time today doing just that. Beautiful post Hope.

I smiled and thought of you caught between the sun & moon and thought "that was probably about 3:00 in the afternoon, eh?"

And just so you know, I love your funk - you can be funky w/ me any day!

Lou said...

That moon is incredible! I was going to post about it, now you have beat me to it. I also had to look up at it and say "Thank You God".

Unknown said...

What an amazing post! I love the idea that who you are is enough! Wow!

Take care,
G

steveroni said...

Moonlight shining through onto my face--like being "kissed by God". Oh my, Oh, Joy! All heaven must be moved by your thought. Angels are conspiring to give us TWO full moons each 28 days. (Two kisses?)

"I got this sense that who I am is enough" Yes, I hear you, Hope. yes!

Right now. This moment. As is.
This moment. As is.
As is.

Message received, Hope. Thank you more than you know...

BTW, you ARE a terrific writer!

Hope said...

Thank you for your comments.
Sometimes when I post stuff like this - the stuff close to my heart - I feel like I am bleeding all over the page in public.

Steve- You have no idea how I can second guess myself after I post a comment on a blog.

steveroni said...

Hope...Oh yes I DO! -grin

Anonymous said...

I hear you with the stopping stuff and then wondering why the funk. I never thought about it as deliberate avoidance before until recently when I realized that I plunked down the book that I started about the 12-steps and co-dependency and consciously left it sitting in the middle of the diningroom table. I sense it there even when I'm not looking. It waits there for me. Soon...

The moon has been amazing; I noticed it the other night at dusk while shoveling the walk. Last night I looked up at it and thought of all the people who comment here and who see it, too. That's cool.

Mich

annie said...

Hope, I wish I understood more about meditation.