Day 64/366 days Towards Self-Mastery. Mood: celebrating going strong at 64 days!
Inviting inspiration. My best ever example of someone who follows their inspiration is my father.
A farmer who spent most of the year after year after year alone on his farm, driving his tractor up and down rows of sugarcane, or wielding a chip hoe along acres of long rows of newly sprouting cane seedlings removing weeds before they consumed the precious water.
It's likely that he was in a meditative state for most of the day.
My father made all his important decisions based on inspiration that he received during the day. He would say that he got a tap on the shoulder to let him know it was time to sell a piece of machinery, to repair a car and even when it came time to sell the love of his life, his precious farm.
He found water and sunk bores in the perfect location during droughts, based on his inspiration with a little help from a green stick that he used for divining.
And it didn't stop there. He purchased commercial property as a retirement plan, then sold that property on inspiration at a price well above market value.
Here's what I learned from my father about inspiration. Allow your mind to be rested, and let the thoughts come and go. Listen when inspiration calls, and act, always.
Today's suggestion is to think about creating a means of inviting inspiration into your life
Perhaps you are caught up in the daily grind just getting through the day, and there's no room left in your mind to feel inspired.
Develop a practice that will invite inspiration.
Sarah suggests reading poetry, books by your favourite authors, creating a ritual of collecting your favourite pens and notepads and find a comfy place, make a pot of tea and allow your mind to rest and wander.
My ritual probably doesn't have as much texture as Sarah suggests, though it is very effective. There are a number of elements that I think are key so I'm going to list them, because that's how my mind works best:
First of all it's about inviting inspiration at the time of day when it is most likely to be available to me. That's lung meridian time between 3 and 5 a.m. Usually I wake at 4 a.m and begin my practice of meditation. Lung meridian time is the time of day that inspiration is most available to us. It makes sense. We take in life with each new breath as we start the new day, and we release what is no longer of value with each expiration. After our body has sifted through yesterday's information and experiences, stored what is useful, it is ready to release that which is not, and give us inspiration for this new day. Buddhist monks wake early around 4 a.m. and spend up to 3 hours simply meditating on their breath at this time.
To engage inspiration I'll ask for what I'm needing as I go to bed at night. It will be my last request before falling asleep. This encourages my mind and dreams to bring the inspiration to the surface. Then I'm ready to capture that insight when I wake.
Another way I invite inspiration is to do something manual. If I'm lost in the detail and can't find clarity I'll take my mind off my work, and go for a walk, do something in the garden, prepare a meal, make a bed, clean a bathroom. Something manual rests my mind and allows inspiration to flow again.
Trusting my intuitive impulses is yet another. When you trust your intuition you are really trusting your inspiration. Eventually you will just "know". That comes with practicing trust, and realising that your intuitive knowing was correct all along. Our intuitive impulses are often a function of our nervous system. We get a gut feeling. That's the gut nervous system responding to something that it is picking up that we are not yet cognitively aware of. Nowadays I have absolute trust in my knowing.
And finally, really key for me is to have space in my life to rest my body and mind, to live a simple life that enables me to tune in whenever I want to. The hectic life of living in the rat race, chasing my tail trying to get somewhere that I wasn't is no longer for me, and I am grateful to have traded it for a life of intuitive knowing and to be following my true path.
Living an inspired life is living a life of self-mastery. Be inspired!
366 days Towards Self-Mastery
When I considered my New Year's intentions for 2020 I had just one: To allow my heart to love what it loved...and let it lead me. (If not now, then when?)
I've spent months working on integrating my life. To live life more fully with my home life, my interests, my work, my responsibilities, all coming together, all connected. I want to give each the attention that they desire and need, and still have time and energy for the others. That means living and working from the heart.
As I was clearing out my bookshelf over the Christmas break I discovered Simple Abundance. I set it aside to explore it on New Year's Day as I lazed through another delicious day of nothingness. Sarah, the author, says this book is about living in grace. Living in grace I realised, is about Self-Mastery.
My thirst for understanding the human condition has driven me all my life, and hand-in-hand with self-mastery it has been a life-long goal. And seeing as I love to write, that living in grace is about self-mastery, and I love a bit of a challenge, then if I am truly going to let my heart lead, I really don't have any other choice. So scary as it feels, I'm starting out on a daily mission of leaning into the suggestions of this daybook and making a daily post to keep me accountable. If not now, then when?
I'm Josie. You can find out a little more about me here.
Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy: by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
This book is written for the Australian and NZ market because it refers to seasonal changes. It's available on Amazon here if you'd like to follow along.
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