Acceptance & Allowing

Both acceptance and allowing are integral not only to a free, unobstructed flow of our creativity, but also to life as a whole. I often catch myself unconsciously believing that as soon as things go MY way I will experience a sense of acceptance of what IS and begin to allow the flow to carry me forward. Then I remember that I'm struggling to put the horse Before the wagon while complaining that I'm at a standstill. It is the other way around when it comes to acceptance and allowing.... as we accept what is, in the Now, we are allowing the creative process, or life to flow gently forth. When we are in an accepting-allowing state of being, creative blocks are no longer a part of our experience. Truly, there's nothing to resist, to block, to control - What Is, Is, and we are vessels to whatever is being expressed through us.

Resisting and controlling are very constricting and limiting sensations, they manifest on physical level as tightness, hunching or a pressure in the body, to name a few. We rarely pay attention to those, not so subtle, signals. Emotionally we may notice an ever-present slight anxiety, barely noticeable, and almost without an overt cause. Yet, underneath it all we can unearth fear. Fear that is aroused by a very real sense of possibility that we are not in control, thus we may not get our outcome. All of the sudden in our imagination we see the doors closing before us as we engage our fear-driven tunnel vision that is allegedly able to promise us that, what we want will come to pass, to the exclusion of everything else.

It is difficult to take a deep breath while we're in a resisting mode, but that's exactly the first thing we must do. Our breath connects us not only to the present moment (hard to breath in the imaginary past or future), but also begins to gently relax our constricted bodies. It is not just a metaphor that, as we allow ourselves to breath freely and deeply, we let Life flow through us... it is a beautiful feeling of release and surrender as we deepen our breathing and connect within. Slowly our bodies let go and soon our mind follows the suit... there's nothing to resist, there's something to trust In-To....

We practice allowing by accepting of What Is and that may very well mean stopping to a standstill in life, art project, or a relationship. And yes, it is accompanied by a myriad of unsettling feelings -certainly not a place we're trained to embrace or even value. Yet this is how we find our Peace, once the fearful voices drop to the background, we allow What Is to just Be and 'to be enough.' We've been taught that not only it's not 'good enough' to ever find ourselves in this, very rich in meaning and authentic place, but to avoid it at all costs, using whatever distraction we may find helpful to reach that objective. In fact, we may associate this creative waiting or staying open to the flow, with an act of utter cowardice since we're not 'making things happen,' or 'going after what we want.' But, what if? What if it takes an enormous act of courage to guard the flickering light of faith within by staying open and accepting of the present moment? Being willing and receptive to trust and follow our innermost inklings and creative urges?

Be still and listen... patiently, with no expectations, embracing and receiving Your Truth.