Hello Dear Ones!
Mike and I have extremely different takes on this subject as we each reacted to this recent movie version (of the original book: The Celestine Prophecy) in our own unique fashion; coming at obviously sensitive issues most relevant within each of us – our very own ‘insights’.
Today I share what unfolded and opened for me. This movie revealed a major vacancy – a vacuum, if you will – in my life. Let me take you back a few years.
I’ve told this story often – it is a true story, yet has the magic of a myth about it:
I’m in my home in a subdivision of a modestly-sized city. My sons are at school and I have no particular objectives for the day except housework. The one family car is with my husband. I’m getting the urge to go shopping. I’d have to take the bus downtown. I hate shopping. There is nothing I need, and there are moths, rather than dollar bills, in my wallet. I brush the thought away assuming that it is my own stalling tactic; I don’t particularly like housework and it really does need to be done! So each time I get the feeling I should be heading by bus to the downtown mall, I push it aside and get on to another household chore.
By late morning, most of the chores are completed, the house is practically gleaming and I’m feeling good about the day’s accomplishments. I get the urge yet again to head downtown. Once again, I push it aside. Finally, in the early afternoon, I head out to the bus stop. I figure if I at least go, the nagging sensation that’s been bugging me will cease.
With no money in the wallet, I decide the best place to go within the mall is the book store. I can browse without buying anything. I head straight there. As I enter the store, I am drawn immediately to the shelves at the back. However, the books there are of no interest to me at all. I do notice a woman muttering to herself. I walk over to this woman and speak to her as though I work there:
“May I help you?”
“YES! My friend told me about a book I absolutely HAVE to read. I can’t for the life of me remember either the title of the book or the name of the author.”
Without saying a single word to her, I repeatedly bend the index finger of my right hand, palm up, in a ‘follow me’ gesture and lead her up to the front of the store. There, I point to a book on the shelf. She looks amazed and blurts out: “That’s it! How did you know?”
I smile and simply say to her: “When you’ve finished reading this book, remember this encounter.”
With that I turn and walk out of the store to catch the next bus home. I had done what I had been guided to do, I could leave now.
Oh, by the way, the book was, as you will have already guessed: The Celestine Prophecy.
As often as I tell this story, I’m certain this woman likely tells it as well …
That experience was a normal occurrence in my life back then and had been all of my life!
When the James Redfield, Celestine Prophecy books came out in 1990 I read them all: the original, the Tenth Insight, Celestine Vision, the workbook, etc (some of them more than once) yet surprisingly I never saw the movie.
Seeing the movie these many years later, and coming, as I was, from a different place in my life than where I was back then … well, I was not prepared for my reaction.
What hit me so profoundly was that since Abraham-Hicks, The Secret, the Law of Attraction and other such philosophies had found their way into my life, the daily magic of events – like the true story above – had dwindled in their frequency. Sure, many still got through – yet these newer teachings were telling me I should expect them by creating them in my reality. I began trying to ‘work at’ making things happen. Yet looking back, they were already so profoundly in my life without me having to take the responsibility of creating them.
I used to allow the Universe the privilege of deliciously conspiring to make incredible things and events occur – without my direction. And I was never lacking for these marvelous experiences. Nor was I in control of any of it! And you know what? I realized since seeing this movie that I don’t want to be in control! I don’t want the responsibility. I want to play and have the Universe continuously surprise and delight me!
The Pollyanna that I am wants to be inspired in the moment – living in my NOW – and trusting that when I feel like going downtown it is simply the right thing to do in that very moment … nothing more, nothing less and absolutely perfect in its unfolding.
quotes from ‘Illusions: Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah’ by Richard Bach:
Imagine the universe beautiful and just and perfect.
Then be sure of one thing:
The Is has imagined it quite a bit better than you have.
A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such a speed, it feels an impulsion….this is the place to go now. But the sky knows the reason and the patterns behind all clouds, and you will know, too, when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond horizons.
I really like that word – impulsion! I’ve been living with less impulsion in my life since I started to follow beliefs and dogma that tell me I should take more control and be a co-creator.
The following quote (from the Celestine Vision website) is the way I choose to live my life:
By seeing the beauty in every face, we lift others into their wisest self, and increase the chances of hearing a synchronistic message.
I have to admit that I would alter one word to that quote: to increase the chances of sharing a synchronistic message – as the magic of life goes both ways …
I have much left to digest with this. Do I choose to remain faithful to the philosophies I’ve studied the past fifteen years? Do I scrap them entirely? Or might I amalgamate them into my life and my beingness in a different and more blended fashion? Well, I have yet to decide.
For now, I will share with you what happened the day after watching the movie: I went with family to the Butterfly Gardens just on the outskirts of Victoria. The place was a beehive of activity. A two-bus bus tour had arrived just as we did. At one point I needed a sense of peace, so I stood quietly in one spot. I focused on the butterflies, the trees, the insects and the birds. I got that glowy feeling that comes from connecting with the auric energies of living things. I get tingly all over when that happens.
As I remained within that quiet, ethereal space of exchanging energies with non-humans, I found myself in a deep meditation. I joyously remained within that place for a few moments. I felt non-visible. When I realized that no people had come near me in some time, it brought me promptly back to the present, and people started to move once again in my direction. I love these magical encounters!
I like the idea of connecting with the inner spirit ~ my own guidance system and connection to Source and the Divine in ways that are familiar to me. A question arose within me during that brief interlude: what is the variable between conscious co-creation and my ability to willingly, trustingly follow intuition, guidance and insight when not consciously aware of my role in the scenario?
There seems to be conflict in the two concepts within my mind – or is it within my heart? I am so much more trusting of Source and Divine guidance when I have no perceived control in the unfolding, let alone the actual creation of events. So I asked myself where I was to go with this? What are my next steps? Can I meld all these concepts? Are they compatible?
Well, within a few hours of asking these questions – in fact as soon as I opened my computer once we got back from the Butterfly Gardens – I got two very solid – and separate – answers:
From Eckhart Tolle: “Invite the opening to the new state of consciousness instead of waiting for life to do it to you. We can voluntarily invite into our lives through portals into the state of presence [Source, the Divine]. All portals take you, of course, into the NOW … and … allow the moment to be as it is …”
From one of my daily inspirational and motivational e-mails through SendItInTime.com: “Forget the past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you’re going to do NOW and do it!”
That last one brought me up short as I realized that I had been questioning the validity of my decisions back those fifteen years, when I adopted and incorporated these other, newer philosophies into my life with such abandon and with relish. It really doesn’t matter whether they were right or wrong. It has all been for my learning. What I do from this moment forward is what is of utmost importance. And in my NOW, breathing life’s energies into my experiences and following the sometimes bold – while at other times subtle – clues of the steps that are right for me to take in any given moment … these are what make my life so extra precious.
The bottom line in all this for me is returning control to the Divine … listening to instinct, following through on insight and inspiration, trusting the unfolding of it all and allowing the playfulness of the Universe to create the magic and marvel of life and then spicing everything up with my fun-filled role in its happening. In other words, listen to the inner guidance that instructs me to be where I’m inspired to be, to do what I’m drawn to do and to speak what pops into this unique mind of mine – knowing that it is all part of the Divine plan …
The Pollyanna in me is happy with this!
In Light and Laughter,
Marcia
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Follow this link to read Mike’s View.