"The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don't go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don't go back to sleep."
- Rumi (from The Essential Rumi, translations by Coleman Barks with John Moyne, 1995)
I love this poem by Rumi because to me it speaks of listening to our own intuitive whisperings. They are so easy to hear when the world around us is silent; when we can come to the still place within. When we touch upon our truths, we have to honor them. We can't "go back to sleep." If we ignore what our spirit is telling us, then over time, we become numb and we stop hearing.
This week I ended up at the oceanside with friends, watching my son play at the shoreline. The whole day was a study in life choices. I found myself retracing old grounds where I'd lived and worked in the past, yearning for freedom. I had a blessed life with good finances, friends, and solid career movement, but those whispers inside told me there was more. I found myself craving a freedom I couldn't explain to others. I wanted more creativity, more connection, deeper happiness. But how?
Inside I knew, but the "next step" just seemed unfathomable. So, everyday I would visit that spot at the ocean on the edge of the city, yearning as I looked at the waves, until one day, I realized something dramatically, life-changing-ly important. A voice within me said--
Are you ready? This is really important:
Dailey, you will die living this half-fulfilled life. If that's enough, then stop asking for more and learn to appreciate it. If that's not enough, then go out and get what you want! Spare no expense!
Well that was pretty dramatic. And I argued with that voice. I spent a few more weeks arguing about the "spare no expense part." Humans are good at arguing, aren't we?
But I'd hit upon an important truth. We may worry about how our desires are going to affect loved ones, but if those relationships are truly grounded in love (not desire) then they open the way for our deep soul needs. We can worry about not having enough money or resources, but the world is filled with support programs, loans, loved ones, alternative communities, and free money; you just have to be willing to do the groundwork to find what you need. It's easy to make excuses, but in the end you either do it, or you don't.
In the end I understood that I wasn't arguing about realities, I was arguing with my fear. But as Rumi says, "The door is round an open." Have the courage to ask yourself what you really want, and then to follow your truth despite that fear, because the door is open. Afraid of losing your job? Afraid of alienating loved ones? Stop looking at the fear. Turn your face instead to the dawn breeze and look at what support can hold you in your journey.
Many Healing Blessings,
Dailey Little
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© 2011 Dailey Little. You are welcome to reproduce this article provided you do so in its entirety, including the copyright and this blurb: "Dailey Little is a Reiki Master and active practitioner. She teaches Reiki & other fun stuff through her private practice in Santa Rosa, CA. Join her joyful community for ReikiShares, Free Clinics, and eco-activism by signing up at her website, www.SantaRosaReiki.com"