The Authentic Self: The Heart of the Matter

I was talking to one of my spiritual mentors this morning about anger that I had just recognized and knew I needed to let go. Although I had been thinking about the people and the circumstances involved for a few weeks and meditating for clarity, I still hadn’t put my finger on what I needed to understand in order to let go of it all. And, my mentor got right to the heart of the matter: I really needed to look within. Not at the other people involved, but within me, within my heart.

My heart had led me to recognize my need to be on the East Coast and not in Santa Fe in the isolated mountain home that had helped both me and my husband, Roger, to recover from environmental illness. The pull toward Santa Fe in 2003 had been so strong, but the pull toward Baltimore in 2012 had been even stronger. When I felt the call from the heart, I asked Roger what he thought about the idea of returning to Maryland. He loved the idea, and although we were dealing with the several emergencies that needed our attention in Baltimore, we turned our eyes toward Baltimore, not knowing how we would return to Santa Fe to pack up, sell our property, and move our cat, Emma, who was being cared for by our wonderful pet/house sitter. As was demonstrated so clearly to us, however, when you follow your heart, events fall into place in a way impossible to plan.

Our pet/house sitter offered to pack up our house for us while caring for Emma, and the contractor who had renovated a deck porch on the south side of the house carted the boxes to a storage unit in Santa Fe while the packing was ongoing. When all was ready, he drove our possessions and Emma to Baltimore. Our possessions went into storage, and Emma came with us. For nine months we lived in a rented corporate apartment while we looked for a new home. Having lived in a rural setting on a mountain top in Santa Fe, we looked for a similar setting in Baltimore. We realized, however, that we had reached that time in our lives when we needed to downsize. Instead of another house, we looked for a condominium.

Not one but two contracts on condominiums in wooded areas fell through, and we widened our search to include more urban settings. Just when we thought we’d never find anything we liked, our realtor arranged for us to look at condominiums near the Homewood campus of Johns Hopkins University. Located in the Tuscany Canterbury section of Baltimore, the Residences at the Colonnade offered us the conveniences of city living only a half block from a wooded area of town within walking distance of Stony Brook Run, two parks, and Sherwood Gardens, a beautifully maintained garden open to the public. Having lived so close to the earth in Santa Fe, I knew I needed to be near trees and gardens so I could walk on the earth. Native American cultures think of human beings as “earth walkers,” and after our nearly nine years on the mountain with almost daily hiking to my meditations spots, I had surely become a full-fledged earth walker.

We are settled in our new home, and what helped get us to this point, had we tried to plan it all, might never have materialized. So, too, with all of the changes and moves we have made in our life together.

I have seen what some might call “serendipity” operating in other people’s lives as well. For those of us on a spiritual path,  however,  “serendipity” is the Universe reaching out to us, calling us to follow our hearts in order to experience what we have come to earth to experience. How many times have you had everything fall into place when you have followed your heart’s desire in the face of steep odds or challenges?

The earth and humanity are in a time of transformation. As many spiritual teachers around the world have been telling us, our universe is now moving from a third-chakra orientation concerned with will and will power to a fourth-chakra orientation focused on living from our hearts. This massive shift in energies has brought with it upheaval and strife in lives, weather, communities, and nations. Self-interest and fear of loss, stemming from a third-chakra mindset, struggle for survival against the spirit of change now sweeping the world. The struggle to maintain the status quo with its illusion of separateness from the soul and God will eventually yield to the call from our hearts, where separateness from each other, from the earth, and from every other sentient being, is a dim memory.

The spirit of change can now be felt in many areas of society. Wherever grassroots organizations spring up to support those in need, to bring about new laws that recognize the rights of men, women, and children to live in sustaining and sustainable environments  free of toxic exposure on every level—physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual, heart-centered living has grown and taken root. Where will you stand when the energies shift? With those struggling to live in will-centeredness with fear and separation or with those flowing easily into a new paradigm of love and unity? The choice is yours