Spring is coming – it really is!
And we turn our minds to planting our gardens … real and metaphorical …
The garden is wide open, waiting for seeds to be planted.
Have you given thought to what you really want to grow? Have you been unable to think beyond the same old plot of ground?
Quite often the “seeds” you plant are perennials, the same ones come up year after year. Or they come from someone else – your parents, your best friend, your culture or something you saw on TV.
You plant what you think you should instead of what you really want to grow. For example:
- Returning to the same kind of job over and over, even though you know you are “done” with the role or industry
- Continuing on a path of study or professional track even though it’s not working because you don’t feel free to change tracks (you’ve already invested so much, what will my family and friends think?)
- Staying in a toxic job or relationship long past it’s “best before date” because you can’t see beyond the current situation for so many reasons (others’ expectations, children, finances, self esteem, security etc)
- Never giving yourself time to dream because you just never stopped to consider what you really want (it’s not something you ever needed to think about before)
- Fitting into family expectations for your life instead of connecting to your own vision, which may be quite different if you told yourself the truth (married with kids by age 30; need to be a doctor, engineer, lawyer; need to own a house; need to take care of kids and parents before you can have your own fulfilling career)
With unsatisfying seeds being planted, you end up feeling lacklustre (hello, low grade depression) or abandoning the garden because it’s no fun cultivating a bunch of plants that don’t truly inspire you.
But how do you know what kind of plant will inspire you to keep going, digging deep into the soil, and doing the committed work of watering and weeding?
You engage in visioning.
Visioning is a spiritual process – reaching past the logical mind, into the vastness of your intuition, the great matrix of creativity. You engage with aspects of your being you might never have met before.
Visioning is discovering a scent of what might be created – a wisp of a dream, a tiny germ of a seed that has yet to be planted. Apple tree or Oak? Lily or Gardenia? Rutabaga or Carrot?
Visioning allows a glimpse into the limitless view of Divine Possibility … bypassing the mind that only knows where you’ve been and taps into the greater mind where anything can happen.
Visioning is free from all the past stories of how you’ve been hurt or failed and goes to the birthplace of life itself – that which dreamed you – before you existed.
It’s not a place we visit very often.
In fact, visioning is not something you do so easily by yourself though sometimes it happens when you are deeply relaxed and dreamy – perhaps upon awakening or during meditation – or occasionally, you might be overtaken with an idea that seemed to come from nowhere. That proverbial bolt from the blue.
- You see yourself on a stage speaking and people leap to their feet, clapping
- You see yourself in a brand new city, exploring an art gallery feeling alive and inspired
- You see yourself holding a baby you thought you could never have (could be metaphorical)
- You see yourself in front of your computer, on fire with your book project
- You wake up, feeling your lover’s arms around you and it feels like home
- You see yourself going for a simple walk in nature, healthy, vital, energized and whole
- You see the name or face of the person you need to call next to break open the next level of your business
- You suddenly see what you need to do next to find your new love
The possibilities are absolutely endless – and even better news – you don’t have to wait for a random bolt of inspiration to happen.
You can go there with the support of a guide (hi!) who can take you gently by the hand into an awakened dream state … a state where you enter into the limitless realm where that germ of an idea can be captured, and planted.
Or the next step of your garden path is illuminated.
How is visioning different from visualization?
Visualization is a mental/emotional process where you see yourself successfully achieving that vision. For example – running a marathon, giving a great speech or presentation.
First comes the Divine Idea, the vision, the seed that inspires you to plant that garden and keep it growing.
Then visualization fertilizes the soil – an important part of gardening, but later in the process.
What do you need to “catch” your vision?
All you need is willingness – to make time and space for the mysterious experience and allow yourself to surrender to it.
And to take the hand of your guide who will keep you safe along the way.
That’s me.
On Sunday, March 6, 2022, I will be leading a 2 hour visioning workshop called Your Divine Idea: Opening to a Greater Vision – all the details to register are here.
It’s only $37 and it includes some private time with me for discernment following the workshop.
If you want a bigger life, you need a bigger vision … join me!