Last week I went to a talk by Drew Dellinger, a poet, writer and teacher who speaks on social justice, ecology and cosmology. I was inspired.
Here’s a few lines from his poem, Love Letter to the Milky Way,
“Cosmos” and “justice” are synonymous with beauty
but parts of the Milky Way don’t give off light
Sometimes it feels like I’ve got Ground Zero in my heart
The dark sun bleeds shadows
The dark sun leaves shadows on everything
The forecast calls for scattered to broken skies
If there wasn’t so much love there wouldn’t be so much pain
It’s like love, the nervous system of the universe
bringing joy and sorrow.
I like the way the poem speaks of the darker side of life and yet is still inspiring. Often what drives our soul work is our deep compassion for the suffering of the world and a desire to transform it. As we share from that place we help to alleviate the loneliness that lies waiting in every human heart. It’s an interesting paradox that we are on the road to Oneness and yet the authentic path is essentially walked alone. Love is not only sweet and light it is also hard and gritty. Love can turn us inside out and hang us upside down until we’re begging for mercy.
Drew Dellinger has spent many years researching into the life and work of Dr Martin Luther King Jnr, the great peace leader and human rights activist who gave his life for love. Drew said King’s message can be summed up in one sentence:
“It really boils down to this: That all life is inter-related.”
That got me thinking about how I would sum up my own message in a sentence and I came up with this:
“Everything we need is within us and between us: Our power lies in conversation.”
I love to be inspired and to inspire – that’s why I’ve been a writer and a teacher all my life – there was a moment in Drew’s talk when the thought passed through me, how come he’s standing up there talking and I’m sitting here in the audience? What does it take to really put yourself and your message out there? What is it that makes one person stand out and be seen while others are quieter and more invisible? Why aren’t I up there sharing my passion?
These questions all relate to an inquiry I’m having at the moment about whether I have done enough to support my soul work’s journey into the world. A book that’s gathering dust on a virtual shelf rather than being enjoyed and shared may be a very disgruntled book. I’ve been a prolific creator and a reluctant marketer and now I hear my work calling me to set it free. I see the work I’ve been given to do as a great gift that asks everything of me. It’s an intelligence and an energy that comes through to be expressed, I lend it my skills and experience, imbue it with my heart and soul, but it isn’t mine. Our soul work belongs to the world.
What does it take to become a generator and guardian of inspiration? I think above all it takes passion. Passion is heart centred, fiery energy that needs to explode into relationship. Without passion there isn’t enough creative energy to breakthrough all the resistance that inevitably arises when we’re on track with our soul work. Passion is the heart spring, the ever renewing source, fire in the belly, the wind at our back.
When passion is partnered with discipline (ooh, a difficult word, I know) we have focus, perseverance, courage, commitment, a willingness to take risks, to seize opportunities and build the momentum that can lead to quantum leaps.
It’s the combination of being willing to show up totally and yet, at the same time, to remember not to take any of it personally. Our soul work is the energy and intelligence of Gaia and Cosmos coming through us. We are the nurturers of possibility.
September 30th 2015
