Dear Freddie, our dog, slept in front of the fire - the first time he has been dowstairs in the house all night on his own. Lily, his sister - who sadly went missing in the spring - used to jump on the chairs and chew things, so it was never possible to leave them at night. Freddie slept soundly and in the morning greeted me in his usual sweet, excited way until I let him out into the garden. I then heard him - from my nestled space in the house - running wild and barking as other hunting dogs - moving as a pack - traveling through the land.
Freddie had been hosted into this fire-side space by Vanessa - as last week she was sleeping on the sofa bed downstairs with Freddie nestled on his rug close to the fire during the recent cold nights. Perhaps it was this that allowed him to feel safe enough to settle – as in other instances – he simply could not rest and had to be returned to his outdoor pen - or he was mature enough - and it was simply right timing.
The wild, in trust, in closer connection...sleeping – being held and hosted at the hearth – then running wild as others hunting as a pack, travel through...
In this time of liberating structures and trusting in new ways, dear Freddie is both guide and teacher. He too has liberated his enclosure...at least when we are home...even now sleeping soundly on his ‘penthouse pillow’ in the outdoor kitchen. Yet, somehow, there is newness and closeness present – as if he knew he was trusted implicitly.
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Later this morning, I had a conversation with Kamyar in connection to me hosting a new website for SoL Greece. Friday night, in our meeting in Athens at Anna’s house (Maria’s sister) where the SoL team – Anthi, Odysseas, Maria and I - we were hosting Anna into the exploration of being the SoL convener. The space was now open for Anna to step in was on two levels (1) She no longer worked for the shipping company she had dedicated her working life to for over 25 year – her structure of work and the ensuing patterning of life, of a 5-day a week working life, now dissolved. (2) Odysseas – who was the current SoL convenor - was now stepping into his draft responsibility, with the Greek Army this coming Monday…a dissolution of a life structure on a grand scale – civilian to serviceman – at least for 9 months. In honoring this transition (including not wanting to stand out) he embodied this shift by going to have his long hair cut and his beard shaved off (after 10 years) - marking this transition on ‘face value’ – in order to step into this new phase and into a distinct operating system – the Services - with his own ground and integrity.
So, during our conversations at Anna’s house, we realized we needed to create a new website for SoL to allow easeful, self-editing - and enliven the existing format. Maria immediately skyped Kamyar, we connected in 20 minutes, Odysseas passed on the relevant history and information, and with Kamyar graciously suggesting that his knowledge and time be exchanged for participating in the future. Yesterday, Kamyar redesigned the site by moving all the information into a new, more flexible, adaptable online structure – and today, we talked through the content management of the new site. Structures too constraining for self-organised expression were reconfigured in 2 days!! When the right people, right time, right place are aligned, the wheel turns…!
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It seems to be a massive time of liberating all structures - too small, fixed or ill-equipped to navigate the new landscape - to graciously crumble and evolve - so that the spaciousness of the new can be lived fully. It sounds so simple – yet in reality – especially if structures have been lived in for some time and are familiar and safe – the thought and practice of liberating them – either by choice or by circumstance - is extremely destabilizing, highly emotive and utterly disorienting. Yet, at some point, new order emerges and life continues in a newly re-patterned way. The art is staying present and discerning - within the massive fallout - to that which does not serve to be liberated, as in the confusion and ensuing debris, it is often difficult to discern. It seems that some prerequisites for the liberation of structures are relationship, hosting, right timing, safety and trust. Principles also seem to hold clues to what is necessary to keep and provides anchor points for mature navigation. Yet in time, the dust settles and the new dawn arrives - recognising the gift of the shift and the new pattern can take form – until the next time of liberation!!
Finally, a poem, sent when Maria, Vanny and I called the world to hold the land and people of Greece speaks of the liberation that is at play in humanity’s evolution…sent by Marcello Lacroix
When you come to the edge of the light you know
And are about to step into the darkness of the unknown
Faith is knowing one of two things will happen:
There will be something solid to stand on
Or you will be taught how to fly”
~ Patrick Overton ~
Perhaps at the heart of the shift in our world right now is returning the wild to the hearth - so long held at distance or isolation - and liberate any structures that prevent this. Perhaps if we enabled this, the soul would then run free and respond - in right timing – with the instinctual life force that bids its energy forth.
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