Before we begin,
I'd like you to take a moment to choose an awe word.
By this I mean a word or short phrase that evokes the feeling of awe within you.
Something that captures that moment of delight and potential that we sometimes experience.
Some examples might include truth or love or God or or my beloved.
It's important that this word does not carry any negative baggage with it.
Just something that feels good to you.
I'd like you to settle down on the edge of your chair,
Close your eyes,
Begin to consciously relax.
Relax the muscles of your face.
Take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your nose or mouth.
Scan your body for any tension.
Are your shoulders hunched?
Is your jaw tight?
Pay attention in this moment to the feeling of the ground beneath your feet,
To the feeling of your buttocks on the edge of the chair.
Take another couple of deep breaths,
Feeling the rise of your belly in and out as you breathe.
Now take a moment to bring to mind your special word or phrase.
See that word resting in the center of your chest,
Warming,
Protecting,
Inspiring as we go on this journey.
Now in your mind's eye,
Stand up and move outside and begin mentally walking away from the hustle and bustle of your daily life as if heading down a quiet country lane.
Notice for a moment that you feel slightly more relaxed on this gentle walk.
You feel your shoulders drop and you breathe a little deeper,
A little easier.
The sounds of your life begin to fade and you begin to notice other sights and sounds.
You hear birds chirping nearby,
Trees rustling in the slight breeze.
Maybe you notice the sound of a river rushing somewhere or maybe you see a rabbit scamper across the road,
A squirrel dash up a tree,
A hawk circling overhead.
You keep walking down the lane,
A little slower now,
Attentive,
Curious.
At the end the lane opens up into a beautiful grassy field.
In the center of the field is a small stone cottage.
To the left of the cottage is a towering oak tree,
Offering a bit of shade.
And to the right is a trellis covered in climbing fragrant jasmine.
Not too far away from the trellis,
A stream meanders by.
You stop for a moment and look at the cottage.
It evokes something deep within you,
A feeling of curiosity,
Of anticipation creeps in.
It looks so enticing sitting there.
You wonder what is inside.
You wonder what it would be like to live there.
You approach the door with some reverence.
The wooden door is beautifully carved with intricate floral scrolls.
But you notice it doesn't appear to have a handle or knob.
Instead there is an odd contraption that you don't recognize.
And the word,
Release,
Appears on the door.
Not sure what to make of that.
But there does not appear to be an obvious way to open that door.
Your attention is drawn to the side where a bench sits next to the little stream.
You make your way over to that bench and sit in the warm sun and light breeze,
Listening for a moment to the sounds of the babbling brook next to you,
Taking in the scenery all about.
You take off your shoes and wiggle your toes in the fresh grass.
At your feet is a basket filled with twigs and leaves.
There is a note pinned to the basket.
You pick up the note and read,
Release these into the stream.
Accept all that is and a way will open.
You pick up the first leaf and notice it is inscribed with the word,
Shoulds.
And you think of all the shoulds you carry with you daily.
I should be doing the laundry.
I should be nicer to so-and-so.
I should eat less and exercise more.
I should meditate.
And with a sudden appreciation of the burden of all your shoulds,
You toss the leaf into the river and watch it flow away.
You pick up another leaf and on it is written,
Written,
Shouldn't.
I shouldn't be wasting my day here doing nothing,
You might think.
I shouldn't put off writing.
But you feel the weight of the shouldn'ts too.
And you toss the leaf in.
You pick up the twig and on it is written,
Worry.
You think about all the different worries that inadvertently consume you.
You might be worried there is not enough time to do what you want to do.
You might be worried that you have let someone down.
You might be worried about hurting someone.
You take a deep breath and toss that twig into the stream too.
Right now,
In this moment,
There is nothing you need to worry about.
Worry is only a distraction.
Another twig bears the words wants and needs.
And you think about all the things you want or think you need to do or have in order to be content.
And you realize you can be content right here,
Right now,
With no further embellishment.
So you toss that into the creek too.
At the bottom of the basket is a small forked branch bearing on one limb the word fear and on the other the word shame.
You understand that fear and shame also hold you back.
Maybe you fear that you are not good enough or that you are unworthy or incapable or inadequate.
Maybe you fear failure or perhaps success.
Perhaps you carry some inescapable feeling of shame.
Whatever you feel ashamed about,
Whatever you feel in this moment with a touch of childlike abandon,
You take a chance and release the last branch into the river.
As you let it go and watch it drift down the moving water,
You feel a kind of lightness in your being.
You are free for the moment of the voices of self-hate and self-doubt.
You feel a hint of curiosity again.
What's next?
You wonder.
And then a sound captures your attention and you turn to see that the contraption on the door of the cottage is swirling.
The door swings open.
A warm light glows from inside.
A hint of a smile crosses your face.
You get up from the bench and you step inside the cottage.
The cottage is a beautiful little candlelit library with soft chairs to each side and a writing desk in the middle.
On the desk is a steaming mug of tea.
As you move toward the desk,
You see a book lying there as well.
A sense of anticipation and happiness spreads from within and you smile as you see it as your favorite kind of book.
There is something just right about it.
The kind of book you can curl up with.
Is it by my favorite author,
You wonder?
I like that writer.
I trust that writer.
You pick it up,
Feeling for a moment the weight of it in your hands,
Caressing it a little.
You open up the book and you find all the pages are blank except for one word on the top of the first page.
That word is your word,
Your awe word.
In the stillness of that cottage,
All shoulds and shouldn'ts,
Worries,
Needs,
Fear and shame released,
Book in hand,
You experience a profound feeling of appreciation and acceptance of your own life,
Your own journey.
You feel your own essence alive in that space and in a moment of brilliant clarity reflect,
I am a writer.
I have something to say that no one else can say in quite the same way.
My voice is unique.
I am inherently perfect,
Just the way I am,
You realize.
You sit for a moment in gratitude,
Feeling your breath move easily through your body,
In through your nose,
Down your throat,
Filling your belly and out again.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
You place your hands on your chest,
Breathe in again,
Deep,
And then exhale.
And with the exhale,
You feel your awe word.
You feel your own unencumbered self ever resonant in the center of your being.
