I'm teaching a class on Tarot as a powerful means for personal and spiritual transformation, recording short online guided meditations at New and Full Moons, and continue to do signings of my book, Enchanted, A Tale of Remembrance: Inspiration For Soulful Living.Visitors galore have seen our wee house bursting at the seams. That house has also developed two issues with its heating system—not the best timing, though I suppose better than were it January—and we've met with three contractors to explore options. As a backdrop, day~to~day life continues as well: my psychotherapy work, cooking and cleaning, spending time with loved ones, workouts to keep my aging body fit, and continuing to attend to the daily personal and spiritual practices that keep me whole.
Truly, nothing to complain about. In fact, it all feels exactly right, as though I'm expanding into a new form...or more accurately, as though I'm being expanded into a new form, one that will carry me into my last years on the planet. With my 69th birthday arriving later in the month, the question "If not now, when?" often occupies a place of honor in my awareness. Thankfully, that question is not accompanied by intense anxiety. Rather, it evokes a steadfast resolve. It is time. I don't know how the future will unfold or where it will take me. I realize, too, that I don't need to know. I need only tend and befriend what is current, intuit the next best steps, and when those are taken, move on to whatever's next in line.
Which brings me to what had been the seed of this column. One August evening, I stopped by a local contradance to make sure our grandchild knew the way to the Airbnb we'd rented to accommodate the influx of family that our own home couldn't comfortably hold. A dance was underway as I arrived, and I found myself swept up in the frivolity. First, the fast steps in response to the caller's guidance, paired with spinning motions that led us each to a new partner.
A brief pause then as the couple at the top of our parallel line formation danced their way down the center aisle, amid our clapping and our cheering. More quick movements, more twirling, a new partner, and applause as another pair strutted their stuff between the rows. Finally, having progressed to the top of the line, my partner and I boogied our own way down the center aisle, amid hooted accolades from our fellow dancers. And the caller called on, and we danced on, and cheered and were cheered in turn.
What a perfect metaphor for a busy, fast~moving, whirling life! We do our steps in concert with the one in front of us, whether that be a human, a task, an emotion, a decision, a question, a conundrum, or anything else we find ourselves facing. When that segment of steps is complete—at least for the time being—we spin on to greet what faces us next across the floor of our lives. At various pause points, we relish a sense of completion as we dance our way down the line, witnessed and cheered by our fellows and our wisest self.
And all the while, the music of life plays on, its steady, thrumming beat guiding our steps and linking us one to the other. There's even a caller if we listen, directing us, reminding us of the steps when we forget, and encouraging us to dance as skillfully and as elegantly as we know how.
In the contradance I attended, there was no particular instruction to enjoy ourselves. Pleasure arose naturally from engaging with the dance itself. This is where the metaphor strains a bit, for the real~life things we face are not always pleasurable. For example, we are faced now with spending gobs of money on a new heating system. Not a pleasantry, to be sure. And yet, I can relish that we have the financial means to make it work, that we have a home and one we've loved for over 30 years, that the system will be greener. The contractors have been knowledgeable, the process not quick but smooth. Hopefully, it will continue that way as we progress forward. And if not? Well, it's just a new dancer I face across the line.
Though my particular steps may not always be as I would like, my dance is nonetheless my own. How I comport myself down the line, the gracefulness or crudeness of my individual movements, and the attitude I bring to them are all mine. I also have a caller to remind me of what matters. It may speak with a human voice, as friends and family keep me steady. Often, though, its messages arrive in other forms, through meditation, when immersed in nature, when I consciously open to guidance. Then I feel the beat that carries me forward.
I know that you, dear reader, are dancing your own dance. And yet perhaps you also feel that life is spinning so quickly it's hard to catch your breath. As you explore your inner experience, you might share my sense that something is shifting deep in your core. May it be a shift for the better, opening you to a larger version of yourself and who you can be in the world and in your own heart and soul. I wish you the most transformative dance possible. And I cheer you on, applauding your efforts and your courage to dance as only you can.
Whatever comes our way, may we all dance our best dance. And may we enjoy the process and the gift we have been given, the gift of being unique dancers in the dance of life.
Blessings always,
Leia
