Happy New Year Everyone!
I was just downstairs eating some wonderful french toast with blueberries and bananas, drenched in maple syrup and suddenly, Snatam Kaur” started singing on my ipod random play,” and before I knew it, I was out of my seat, jamming like there was no tomorrow! Right there in the kitchen, swiveling my hips, carving through space with my arms, in big, celebratory flourishes, shaking every part of my body in this beautiful, driving, harmonious, rhythmic flow– letting the music ignite my every cell, coming alive and being the music, every nuance, every subtle sound. GOD! It was AMAZING! Her voice is so pure, and so powerful because of that– so true … and the music, the mesmerizing, pulsating beat behind the purity of her clear voice that floats above the bass, but somehow lives inside it at the same time was the very thing that called me– and literally lifted me out of my chair, onto the “dance floor …”
This incredible ALIVENESS that comes from letting yourself GO … from allowing whatever lives inside to come to the surface, what lies dormant, sometimes– the 3/4 of the iceberg of who we really are that lies beneath the surface of what others see, is the very thing that we need to bring up and out more often so that we can feel this essential aliveness that makes meaning of our lives.
And so, while I was dancing, feeling this incredible surge of energy blaze through my body, from the deepest core of my being outward, through my arms and legs, through my flesh, vibrating, shaking, flying, my mind started to travel as well to some recent events in my life … to some interactions I have had with people.
Each of us wants to be able to have peace and harmony in our relationships, in the same way that I described this kind of effortless, natural flow that was happening for me in my body while I was dancing this morning. We each hope for a connection that makes us feel “seen” and “heard” and understood. It doesn’t happen every day. But when it does, it can be the most powerful agent of change in our lives, the very way that we come to understand ourselves better. Even if we don’t connect with someone else in this more profound way, relationships of any kind are what shine the light on that part of the iceberg that usually remains hidden beneath, out of sight– out of our own “sight.” Often, it is when we encounter someone who at first seems to be “just like us,” with whom we share great compatibility, one who turns out to have fundamental differences in relating, that we are offered the greatest opportunity for self-discovery. And going a step beyond, it is when we encounter these differences that conflict arises, and we are challenged to face what lies inside ourselves. We are challenged to ask why it is that conflict arises between ourself and another. Why is it in our society that we are taught from an early age to resist conflict, to run from it, to conceal it, even bury it and disguise it? Why when it is such a rich opportunity for self-growth and understanding, the expanding of our inner horizons, one that then affects our lives in the “outside world” with others, fostering greater patience and compassion in our dealings with people at large.
After reading this, why does the voice of Elmer Fudd come forward singing, “Kill the rabbit,…kill the rabbit”…? He must have read Jenn’s column and repeating her mantra for his personal growth fulfillment. Way to go Elmer!
And big thanks to Ms. Kries too!
Yay!
Greetings and salutaions! I wanted to let you know you have inspired yet another person with your work out DVD’s. I may well have the better part of your “collection”. Fasinating how you have transformed my life and I do not reall “know you” and yet I do. As I ready myself for retirement, diet, work out, and stronger sense of self in the midst of losing a partner. MILA and Kangen water were also a huge contributor. Hard to say whant had the bigest impact, I just know that you were pivitol. THANK YOU for sharing!