“Think how artificially intelligent navigation systems have changed the way we travel compared to the days of map and compass. It’s a bit like that, but BETTER, because the coding language is Love.”
~Ali Johnson
“I was darkness-bound, I had almost drowned, ‘til you came around and you found me.”
-Alen Menken, Uncharted Waters: The Little Mermaid
“The entire life is an open book, a scripture. Read it. Learn while digging a pit or chopping some wood or cooking some food. If you can’t learn from your daily activities, how are you going to understand the scriptures?”
― Sri S. Satchidananda, The Yoga Sutras of Pantanjali
I was talking with a friend recently about entering the sacred transformational journey—what some have referred to as the dark night of the soul. She said, “it feels like I’m in a free fall. I have no idea who I am.” No truer words, I thought, recalling that exact feeling.
It’s a bit like your consciousness is standing at the precipice of a sea cliff wondering if it should jump and see what’s down there. I would say dive, but let’s be honest, it’s not nearly that graceful for most of us. Then, out of the blue, the Universe gives you a helpful little shove from behind. Before you know it, you’re flailing and shouting “I take it back! I don’t actually want to know!” But you’ve already crossed the threshold. There’s no getting back up on the pedestal. You’re in the water now, and it’s up to you. Find your inner mermaid or die. It’s your choice.
Right about this point, I prayed desperately for a mentor. I was drowning in grief and darkness. I needed someone who had gone through this. My sweet husband would stay home from work and just hold me, bewildered by what I’d morphed into nearly overnight. But he couldn’t assure me I wasn’t losing my mind or explain what the @#$% was happening.
The heart of the Universe answered my prayer, though not in the way I’d expected. While I stayed open to receiving a mentor during the entire three year journey, no embodied guru or wise individual ever took my hand and said, “This way.”
However, in time, I came to see that nothing is actually something. Nothing is in fact, everything. No teacher became every teacher. All beings became embodied wisdom–human, animal, botanical, numerical, geological, mythical and so on. “This way,” they whispered.
Think how artificially intelligent navigation systems have changed the way we travel compared to the days of map and compass. It’s a bit like that–but BETTER–because the coding language is Love.
Now, instead of being lost or diverted when things change suddenly, real time guidance pops up to tell you the road is closed, there’s a faster route, avoid this accident, throw it in reverse RIGHT NOW, the next step towards your dream is in that coffee shop.
I began listening to the voice of the present moment (some might call this The Word) as though it was a vitally important song only I could hear. Each lyric was real time divine guidance for the journey. My child’s tantrum. The license plate on the car that cut in front of me. The billboard that switched inspirational quotes every Monday when I drove to work. The weasel scampering across my path. The book I was inexplicably drawn to. My dreams. They all became wisdom and love incarnate.
The more I loved the One Song, the more I heard its many voices and clumsily learned to dance. The more I sought its harmony in seemingly “negative events” and felt awed and inspired by its surprise gifts, the louder and clearer it played. The more I honored the wise teacher in all that is, the more I recognized Her spirit in myself, and finally, recognized Her as me, the writer of my own song.
You are already a voice in the One Song of the Universe. Ask to hear it. Ask to see it. Give your ears and eyes to your soul, and open to receive the Soul’s wisdom. Say you want it out loud. I can’t promise it will be easy. I do promise it will be worth it.