Vol. 7 No. 1 February 2021  

"Sometimes just getting up and carrying on is brave and magnificent."
--Charlie Mackesy, from The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

We have an unusual opportunity now to assess our lives. Many of us have fewer distractions to keep us from looking closely at the circumstances in which we find ourselves. While it is not always comfortable to examine our lives, it can be fruitful. Allowing ourselves to take an honest assessment frees us to make improvements. No punishment or critique! Simply notice if there are new ways that you would like to express care and love for yourself, your surroundings, your relationships, and your wellbeing. Look around! Is there any area that you would like to refresh? If so, now may be an opportune time to undertake an endeavor that has been waiting for care and attention.

 

We each have many facets, some are finely tuned, some neglected. Integrating experience requires that we coax these facets into coming together, getting onto the same page, and seeking a unified aim. We refer to this state as being aligned; this alignment promotes inner harmony, clarity, and peace. We also call it having integrity (aka being integrated).

Roughly, we refer to physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual facets. These aspects represent key capabilities. Although they remain an incomplete accounting, coordinating these facets will go a long way toward achieving integration.

If these qualities are out of sync, a person will be too distracted and/or disoriented to progress in his/her life. We may call that person stuck, as well as inconsistent, imbalanced, and out-of-whack. I suspect that most people can relate to the lack of focus and clarity that occurs when one is pulled in multiple directions by different facets of oneself. Some people claim that this internal unrest is basic to the human condition; they say that it cannot be overcome. However, while feeling scattered and jumbled is certainly common, it is not inevitable.

The two activities that are basic to human life include releasing the past and creating the future. (When we are not engaged in activity, we may be able to simply be in the present, which is restorative, and allows us to return to our activities refreshed, renewed, and, often, inspired.)

If we consider releasing the past, each facet—physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual—will process and clear past experiences differently. The physical body requires rest in order to release, which is why people are tired during times of loss. Our minds must forgive in order to release; until an event is forgiven, our thoughts will continue to circle around it. Emotionally, we must feel— especially sadness and anger—to reconcile the past. And, as spiritual beings, we literally must release our attachment to each event by becoming completely neutral to it. Through this clearing process, which occurs differently—and in its own time—for each of these facets of ourselves, we complete our experiences in order regain our bearings and move forward.

Forward motion—including creating the future—depends on invoking other capabilities within these facets of ourselves. To create, the physical body initiates action through movement; making things happen in one’s life is an active process indeed! Our mental faculties bring understanding, innovation, and problem solving into the creative process. We create emotionally in enthusiasm and hopefulness. And our spiritual power provides us with willingness, vision, and focus.

If you feel stuck in some past event, notice whether there is an aspect of yourself that has not opened to processing it, and try addressing that area directly. Likewise, if your creations are getting forestalled, notice if part of you is not fully on board with the project. See if you can align these aspects in order to move through your life more smoothly! May the force—as well as the harmony, clarity, and peace—be with you!