Paths

I am driving across North America because a bridge told me to
(more on that later)
and I am walking labyrinths in each place I pass through,
it is absolutely remarkable how many labyrinths hide in plain sight,
you might be in Cody, Wyoming, land of big sky and taciturn cowboys and not much else,
but lo and behold: a labyrinth,
waiting for you to passage to its center
and return new.

Not lost (again)

Whenever I tell people I walk labyrinths,
they always think I mean a maze, but I never mean a maze.

You can’t get lost in a labyrinth,
and I mean many things by that.

Verbs

The truth is, it isn’t so much that I walk labyrinths as I listen to them,
but I listen to them as I take the path,
so from the outside it looks like walking.

Labyrinths are always wise and often opinionated,
a bit like bridges, though not so unpredictable.

And, like the house, they always win.

You can enter the labyrinth in any state of mind,
and return calmer and steadier, altered-state,
the quieting power of the labyrinth always wins
over anything I might bring to it.

The labyrinth always wins

I like to greet a labyrinth by holding an intention in my heart,
or I drop a question inside its edges, asking for clarity,
— BUT —
it doesn’t actually matter,
the labyrinth works its wonders on me either way.

Even if I forget to practice conscious entry,
if I neglect to pause, to consider how I want to approach,
or even if I stumble in completely disoriented
from this raging heartbroken grief-state,
caught up in my ongoing internal storms of
destruction, fury, upheaval,
the vertigo of loss…

Even then

Even then, by the time I reach center,
my breath has slowed, my feet feel the ground again,
by the time I exit, my thank-you heart is full of awe,
I kiss my palms and place them on my cheeks,
remembering that I am the bell tower where
resonance lives.

I can try to forget but there it is

Yes, I can forget the yoga of
{Enter As You Wish To Be In It, Exit As You Wish To Continue}
which is the yoga of aliveness,
and still it brings me to presence,
to breath, to perspective,
and to wild self-treasuring.

Labyrinths are unfuckupable,
and this is important too,
they are more powerful than my sadness,
and anyway my internal state can change,
this is important too.

Translations.

The other day I decided that if I had a business card it would say
Labyrinth Translator!

But thinking about this also makes me the tiniest bit sad
regarding the ongoing mystery of why is this not my job,
why can I not be paid to listen to the labyrinths
and share what they tell me?

Maybe we can figure that out too.

Opening

I found myself at the opening of a labyrinth
located inside of a wildlife refuge in Willapa, Washington,
because Operation Tell Me About The Wild Life is still hilarious

It turns out, when you say yes to the Wild Life out in the wild wilds
as your wildest self who lives by instinct and breath,
guess what is needed most in order to really
go/be wild:

{refuge}

The labyrinth of what is mine

I could write all day every day on any topic and still somehow end up
circling this same theme of the relationship
between {Freedom & Sanctuary}
and how I always think it has to be either one or the other,
when actually one enhances the other,
I can be wild and held, wild and held, wild and held.

This is presence and this is devotion,
walking the labyrinth paths of my mind,
mapping the crown points,
reminding myself that I am allowed to pursue Pleasure,
reminding myself that I am allowed to desire Safety,
I am allowed to desire.

What is refuge

This topic feels intensely personal as well as extremely political,
especially given how each day (in these not particularly united states)
(and maybe wherever you are too)
feels even more terrifying and disorienting,
as we grapple with the helplessness of
too many awful situations,
so many people in dire need of sanctuary,
how do we serve, what do we focus on when everything is on fire,
and how do we take exquisite care of ourselves so as to not
burn out from
fury and fear?

The ongoing prayer-wish of refuge

May everything that is mine return to me,
may I release everything else.

May all beings find safety and shelter,
may the next indicated next steps on the labyrinth path of justice
reveal themselves now.

Air

The air in Portland was thick with ash from the fires
and a favorite yoga person said
it is okay to go seek refuge
it doesn’t always have to be inside you
go, set off to the place where you can breathe

This was a good reminder for me about the superpower of
{change your place change your luck}

And I was fortunate to be able to run away and camp out on the coast,
among giant trees under that red fire moon, breathe again.

Verbs, again.

A verb for refuge: seek

Stories about direction/s and a secret mission

This summer a bridge reminded me of a vital mission I have allowed myself to forget,
and I don’t want to say that the bridge chastised me,
because that is a bit extreme, and also bridges are wise and kind,
they know about All Timing Is Right Timing,
but I will say the bridge was extremely clear that now is when this needs to happen,
this whole thing is kind of a long story — maybe for later? — but
here’s the short version: I am on the road.

This is a thing that happens to me sometimes,
places speak and I listen, these encounters have changed
the course and current of my life,
and now I am on the road.

Direction changes (two meanings)

First this 5038 mile voyage given to me by the bridge,
and then on to whatever is indicated next,
this apparently will be revealed towards the end of that number of miles,
which, okay, I mean, that sounds medium-reasonable,
certainly no less bizarre than the other times that a bridge has
firmly but lovingly given me a direction change,
that’s what this is,
a direction change.

I don’t know what this mission is about, but I don’t need to yet.

Mainly I will be walking labyrinths, following clues,
going to the places that need me, or so the bridge said.

Though it seems equally likely that I also need these places
as much as they need my presence, because this is the nature of things.

We let something go and the letting go is a gift,
and the trees release oxygen/love for us,
release and receive, receive and release,
this is how it works, like breath.

Calling on (and in) superpowers for this voyage

• What I Need When I Need It aka Beautifully Provided For
• I Can See What I Have (so many meanings!)
• I Remember Who I Am (and: I respect the work of staying true to what I know)
• True To This Wild Heart
• I Know Exactly When Less Is More and When More Is More (and can easily switch modes)
• Receive The Redirection / Follow Until It Changes / The Endless Play Of Counter-Balance
• SET NO PATH NEVER LOSE MY WAY
• Willing To Seek Refuge (can I perceive this as an act of strength)
• Breathe Into The Blind Spots / Change The Feel Of My Field / Give Myself To Breath
• If it’s not full wild When-Harry-Met-Sally-Diner-Scene-Yes then let it be an easy no

Naming what is needed

I said this once, and it is still true:
It is almost impossible to convey how
oddly magical superpowers are,
so much more so than they should be,
and I am convinced that much of their power comes from
the process of naming them*

Naming is invoking, invoking is inviting, inviting is priming yourself to observe, observing leads to sparks of insight, and these sparks are our ally in embodying what was named.

Bandon

On the Oregon coast, in Bandon, truly a beautiful place,
there is someone, his name is Denny, he goes out to the beach and
creates stunning elaborate labyrinths in the sand,
they last until the tide comes in and wipes them away,
his art comes into form in order to be erased
can we breathe for the wonder and magnificence of this?

If

If the disappearance/destruction of a form can enhance
the treasuring of forms,
if a return to tabula rasa is part of both the art and the magic,
if we can appreciate the poignancy of
making something together that is more powerful than what I can make on my own,
and if the letting it go can be a part of the treasure of receiving…

Is there not something tremendous and magical in that, a powerful form of growth?

A story

Someone loved me and loved me and loved me and then
something happened and they forgot how to love me,
am I able to let this person now become the tide that
washes away the beautiful love-labyrinth that we
created together in the sand

And/or

Is loving this person the beautiful labyrinth that I traversed
in the sand until the tide came and washed it away,
too many unresolved questions here
like when is it time to let the tide be the tide
and when is the time to fight for big wild love,
to build a labyrinth of pretty stone on high ground
(sanctuary)

Here is something new:
if I do choose to let something go, I no longer agree
to let it go by turning my back the way I have before,
it is time for a new way

Pain, again.

The whole thing with the tide is that you know the tide is coming
you even know more or less when,
you know the beauty is tied to the impermanence,
a shared creation that will be washed away someday,
because everything ends,
and maybe re-form or maybe not re-form, depending, on so many things,
but what is this early tide with no explanation, what is that,
what is this storm and why can’t we walk together and talk it out.

These are the kinds of questions I take to labyrinths when
I walk them, or, it looks like I am walking them,
but really they are giving me dictation,
and reminding me to breathe into my blind spots.

Walking, again.

I want to let things change shape in the same way that I
walk my labyrinths
(or they walk me)
(they put me through my paces),
calm and steady, feeling the ground,
trusting the winding circles
to unwind my pain
and return me
to love.

Superpowers, again

I am calling on all the Bandon labyrinth superpowers regardless of what happens,
I am ready to be someone who marvels over the beauty and grace in
cycles of [love-and-loss],
and breathes for tides doing what they do,
even when there are tears involved,
I am ready to be someone who invites love in,
and builds stone labyrinths on high ground
with the people I trust to walk with me.

I am making wishes about my business.

My business and this space have been a refuge for many people over the past
nearly thirteen years,
and I am glad for that,
just as I am thankful for my magical retreat center
which also washed away with the tides

The time has come though for my business to also be a refuge for me,
and the time is here for me to share more wisdom,
as well as more concepts and techniques to
support everyone who gathers here in
growing/trusting their own wise internal wisdom and expertise
when it comes to things like finding refuge or wishing wishes
or listening
or mapping paths
or letting things go
or letting things come.

My wishes are about time and space to wish,
and community to share with,
and a plan, which actually revealed itself while writing these wishes,
so thank you, wishes and thank you, month of Wishing
(especially the beautiful Wishing superpower of Sparks & Stars!)
and thank you, community of readers who wish with me and wish-well with me,
because oh wow what beautiful wishes,
and because I feel much better for having written to-and-with you,
what treasure to be here and now.

What do I wish for in the month of Wishing

I am Fierce & Fearless
Powerful & Striking
Of The Earth & Wild
Glowing & Alive

Invitation: Communal wish space! Come play with me…

You are invited to share this post and to share many !!!!!! about what is here,

Or share appreciation or anything sparked for you while reading…

You can also share how things have been going, check in, or deposit wishes, gwishes, superpowers, qualities, ingredients, possibly in code.

Safe space for creative exploration asks us to let go of care-taking and advice-giving.

Everyone belongs. We let people have their own experience. We’re supportive and welcoming. We lovingly refrain from giving advice.

And of course it’s always okay to comment under a made-up name, whether for play and delight, or in the interest of Safety First.

Wishes and checking-in are never late because whenever you wish is the right time for wishing.

We remember that people vary and my process doesn’t have to be yours, and this is a good thing.

Here’s how we meet each other: with great kindness and appreciation and awe, whispering (and sometimes shouting) oh, wow what beautiful wishes!

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