HEADS UP, this one may get heavy… it’s been one of those weeks.
Endless summer days turn into an endless summer haze that brings with it a sense of lethargy and often obscurity. The haze that hides our beautiful mountains is thickened by an extreme heat wave and smoke from distant fires transforming once-clear, panoramic views of rolling green hills and high Sierra Mountain tops into a murky blend of yellow-brown clouds that distort shapes and colors.
The moon rose red the night before last; beautiful in all her glory and transformed in all the haze. It brought to mind the metaphorical “haze” that feels like is settling over my world as one fire after another is put out, one challenge after another moved through, and one pivot after another changes the course I thought was laid out before me this year.
In my fast-paced, hyperconnected world that has been slowed by circumstance, it has become easy to fall into a routine that offers comfort and familiarity over growth and exploration. When so much seems to be out of my control, this path of least resistance has led to mediocre days of complacency where the pursuit of dreams is overshadowed by the ease of “good enough,” I made it through another day.
Fear flies freely in these endless days of summers haze. It lurks in my subconscious, shaping decisions and my perceptions with its infamous what ifs and whys. Fear of the unknown is a powerful deterrent that keeps me anchored in my familiar, in my comfy chair. This fear-driven compliance with complacency can cloud my judgment, mask the dreams, and hide my calendar in smoke and mirrors.
Somedays it is just difficult to see the possibilities beyond the immediate responsibilities, worries, fears, judgement, guilt, and resistance.
I seem to have left Pollyanna at the last bus stop I passed. The self-imposed isolation brought on by heat and haze has had a numbing effect on my creativity and passion.
It is well past midnight on the night this newsletter should be in the hands of my VA so she can work her magic and massage it into a proper newsletter to send out on Friday. And yet…here I sit in a computer screen lit dark room grasping for words and sentences to string together and make sense of this haze that has surrounded my brain, my home, my valley, our world.
I am blessed beyond words in my life. I have a beautiful home, just celebrated 52 years married to the same man who has put up with me and my constantly changing world of creativity and chaos. I have family close and get to see my grandkids all the time. My daughter inherited a love of crafting, and I am blessed with time with us creating sacred art together. And I am blessed with friends who care, who listen, and who hold sacred space for me when I engage the shadows that live in the haze.
I am so very grateful!
So, I must wake up and work at clearing this haze I find myself struggling through this past week. With you all as witness, I acknowledge its presence and feel into its origins. Self-awareness is the key to breaking free from the confines of complacency and fear.
What I know for sure is that tomorrow is another day and I have the right to choose how I will live it. To make better decisions for myself, I know that I must take a breath and look deeper into my beliefs, look honestly at my fears, and face the horizon as it clears before me.
I need to pull on my big girl panties once again and step with the fear, into courage and a willingness to act in spite of it, rather than hang out with it in an easy chair. I got out the old pen and pad and began re-writing the path to my own purpose reminding myself of what I want and need to achieve and the impact I want to have in my world.
Purpose is the path to a plan and the plan is a path to the dream giving direction and meaning to my actions. It is how one aligns their true value and desires in crafting a clear vision of where one wants to go and what one wants to achieve.
What impact do you want to have? Do you need help navigating the challenges and setbacks that inevitably arise? When I found myself in the grips of this summers endless haze, I sat back and sought help.
There is a myriad of tools available to us all, we just have to take a breath, look beyond the barriers we have put up and ask for what we need. Just as a cool breeze can dissipate the summer heat and haze, this conscious effort to live intentionally reminds me of the vibrant and expansive vistas of life that lie beyond my immediate view.
Look up folks, reach out, write or journal, sing, dance, move to beat of your own drum and watch as any haze that tries to fill the sky around you dissipate in the joy of your sacred creativity and movement.
Blowing the winds of change up into the skies above with many blessings and much love…
***
Beth and I are co-hosting a live and in-person retreat over the Fall Equinox weekend, Sept 21-22 in Diamond Springs CA (just north of Placerville).
Email vicki@vickidobbs.com for more information and to join us as we Journey through the Shamans Doorway bridging the legacies of Lynn Andrews and the Sisterhood of the Shields, Michael Harner and The Shaman’s Way, and the Teachings of the Medicine Wheel from Evelyn Eaton.
Please enjoy my Free PDF –
6 Ways Your Life Can Change When You Adopt an Optimistic Attitude
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Vicki Dobbs is a bold and adventurous warrior walking a path of heart to manifest spirituality in everyday lives. She opens existential gateways for individuals to face their challenges and embrace these tests as the great teachers that they are.
Her goal is to see everyone walk in beauty and balance every day of their lives empowered by the voice of their own authentic truth.
Through Wisdom Evolution and Sacred Wisdom Workshops, Vicki creates opportunities for others to make deep personal changes through experiential classes, ceremony, sacred art and story. She endeavors to inspire others to create their lives intentionally. Vicki is an Inspirator of everyday awareness, an Instigator of spontaneous stories and a Connoisseur of Creativity. Gratitude and grace sprinkled with humility and humor are the medicine she brings to the world.
As an Elder, Teacher and Entrepreneur, Spiritual Coach, Ordained Minister and Crafter of Sacred Art and Tools, Vicki perceives life’s journey as an ever-upward spiraling ascension of the human spirit leading her to wisdom, wholeness and authenticity.
Her experience includes being trained in the Harner Method of Shamanic Counseling and the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition of Cross Cultural Shamanism. She is a Graduate Teacher and Mentor with the Lynn Andrews Center For Sacred Arts and Training and has been the Administrator and Writers Guide for Writing Spirit, the School.
Vicki is also an Artist of the Spirit Certified Spiritual and Energetic Life Coach, a Graduate Mentor in the AoS program and a founding member of HeatherAsh Amara’s Warrior Goddess Leadership Team and Facilitator of the Warrior Heart Practice.
Connect with Vicki here on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vickildobbsauthor
