Staying vulnerable is a risk we have to take if we want to experience connection.
Brene' Brown
Co-Creative Mandalas have a vibration that anchors, activates specific qualities, and represents something about ourselves, the natural world, and the energy in the universe at a particular time. This year the mandalas support Aligning with Wisdom,
within mind, body, and spirit,
with the natural rhythms in nature,
and with the Great Mandala.
The mandala archetype for this month is Community.
It's been fun, illuminating, and surprising to explore Community and all the ways it supports
aligning with wisdom:
Your wisdom--mind, body, and spirit--by listening to your inner guidance and finding joy, peace, and wonder.
How is your wisdom calling you
to embrace Community?
This Co-creative mandala, Community, is from a photograph of dahlia (symbolizes lasting bonds) and is associated with the sacral, solar plexus, heart, and crown chakras. It reminds us that changes and challenges call for deep courage, compassion, and connection. We are social
animals, so it's natural to seek a sense of belonging. Community not only sustains us, it also illuminates paths that lead to resilience. Whatever role or purpose we serve in our community, our presence and contribution are needed.
Happy Halloween (Sanhaim--pronounced Sow-in):
We hope your day is Spoooktacular...full of sweet treats, warm smiles, and maybe a little mischief.
We’re sending greetings of warmth and care to each of you as we move into the rhythms of fall here in the Northern Hemisphere, and good wishes to those in the Southern Hemisphere, where spring’s renewal is beginning to emerge.
Today, and for the next couple of weeks, is a powerful time, a threshold that opens to transition from what doesn't serve us to the dreams we envision for the future. This is a time of turning inward. It’s a sacred reminder that endings are a necessary part of growth.
In some traditions there is the belief that the veil between worlds thins and we have an opportunity to connect with and honor our ancestors.
The challenges of our time call for deeper courage, compassion, and connection than at any time in our lives. Certainly, anytime in my life. You may be feeling the pull toward grounding, connection, and a sense of belonging.
As we navigate the complexities of our shared world - - we are reminded of the importance of community. Community can sustain us. It can show us compassion. It can be a container in which we come together, reflect, and heal.
We know that the human condition has its highs and lows—with both joy and pain. Many of us face illness, hardship, or depression, and lately, so many people are
feeling a deep sense of disconnection. As we release what's run its course, honor our ancestors, and trust that we're making space for what is yet to manifest, I want to bring us back to gratitude.
When we remember our deep belonging to this world, a fierce and tender courage begins to move through us -- along with the gratitude of our awakened heart.
In Maori, the New Zealand indigenous people's tradition, the feeling that there is a life force that connects all living things is called Mauri. It’s the vital essence that animates everything and links us to each other, to the land, and to the ancestors who came before us. Our longing for community leads us to this connection.
Community has the power to transform us, to uplift us, and to help us live as our most expansive self. Community can support a full, spiritual life when the people we surround
ourselves with support us in our evolution of consciousness and help us live as our most expansive selves. And, we do the same for others.
Have you stopped recently to reflect on and appreciate the relationships--current and past--in your life?
But what happens when you feel like an outsider, someone who doesn't belong?
If you lack the connections, be courageous enough to reach out and build them.
James Clear
Like me, you may have chosen to go it alone, to be a "lone wolf". That's such an interesting expression, "lone wolf". Some say it's a myth, others agree that it's rare that a wolf separates from the pack, either permanently or for short periods of time.
Like wolves, we are "pack animals", social beings. I like to think wolves live in a community, or pack, that is social and that they work together for the common good. We humans could learn from those behaviors.
It’s our cooperative connections with others that enable us, as individuals and as the human race, to thrive. Studies have shown that being alone doesn't support thriving.
Apparently, we do better with people in our lives. Something we can be grateful for and not take for granted.
I've had challenging times in my life when I found that being connected with others, and having a sense of belonging helped me heal and grown in ways that I didn't imagine.
In that moment, I realized something profound about the kind of connections we all need—and deserve—to thrive.
Being with others, sharing a common understanding of the human condition--with both its bliss and blisters--and a desire to live a better life, helping one another. That changed me forever.
Now, as we step into the deep, reflective season, in this moment of deep reflection, ask: Who are the people you surround yourself with? Are they lifting you up, or is it time to seek something more?
As you consider what to release during the next couple of weeks, perhaps you'll let go of relationships that have run their course. On the other hand, consider letting go of the belief that going it alone is the best path to take.
During this deep, introspective time, it’s important to honor your desire to go inward, while staying connected to the people in your life.
Community supports our quest for living a spiritual life. In community we can find people who remind us of our wholeness, who support our evolution of consciousness, who help us live out most expansive life.
It’s natural to desire connection. If you’re craving community or you'd like to reaffirm your connection to others, why not set an intention to call in community? During this more introspective time, it’s important to honor your desire to go inward, while staying connected to the people in your life.
For some people, this is easy to achieve. For others like me, it's harder, but not impossible. As an introvert, this can be challenging, so I take small steps. This could mean attending one new event. Reaching out to old friends to reconnect is much easier for me. Just being intentional and contacting people who are important to me is something that I regularly do.
If you’re ready to attract and nurture community in your life, think about those relationships closest to you. Life affirming relationships are reciprocal. How are the people in your life contributing to your life? How are you contributing to theirs?
I believe that life is easier in community. Being supportive of each other and bringing out our best is at the heart of community. It may start out as a group with shared interests or goals and deepen over time as we express care, compassion, and connection.
We’re all in this together.
May you feel held in the quiet power of this season.
May what is ready to fall away do so with grace.
May the wisdom of your ancestors guide your steps in the months ahead.
May new dreams take root in the dark, waiting to bloom in their own time.
And, may you thrive in co-creative communities filled with loving, like-minded, light-hearted beings.
I’m sending you so much love as we journey through this sacred threshold together.
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