"We learn the rope of life
By untying its knots."
~ Jean Toomer, novelist and poet
"Surrender, Dorothy!"
This is one of the more memorable lines from the movie classic, The Wizard of Oz, writ large across the sky by the Wicked Witch of the West.
Surrender is also one of the more misunderstood stages of the spiritual journey. It doesn't mean to give up or give in, but to open to something beyond; to acknowledge, honor, and allow the energy that moves through us free reign. It's about letting go of what you know, how it "ought" to be, what you think you should do now. Instead of relinquishing your freedom, I envision surrender as more of a "Yield Right of Way" sign. The one you're yielding to is your own higher Self.
On my CD, What You Need to Know Now, I talk about how, on my journey to self-knowing, I didn't want to surrender my mind — so I got a clear lesson in what being "out of one's mind" is! Having my brain take an extended vacation forced me to begin to participate in the instinctual world, rather than merely observe it, and write about it. My odyssey was like a voice in my ear saying, "Hello! You've mastered being a successful businesswoman; we have other plans for you now." And everything I'd identified myself with — a successful business, possessions, financial security, home, even friends dissolved. I'd been holding on tightly in fear, and Surrender swept me into a new world.
Surrender is about untying the "nots" in our lives. I like to call them the "I'm-not-gonnas." We begin by prying our mental fingers loose. Once we do, we feel a sense of exhilaration, of flying, because there's so much space around us. Having the courage to be in free-fall, to release one trapeze bar before the next has swung into view, is an essential step in re-imagining your life. And whether or "not" you can see it, there's always an invisible trampoline beneath you, ready to help you bounce back up.
Once you enter this "corridor between the worlds," it's easier to hear the voice of Spirit, because you're becoming unstuck from familiar patterns. During the first year of my four-year initiation, out walking one evening, I received a remarkable message that has been a comforting touchstone at many points along the road since then. It was, "You need less than you think/And you have more than you know." As you listen with your inner ear for such guidance, it will begin to come to you.
I invite you to s-t-r-e-t-c-h beyond your comfort zone as we continue to surf the wild, welcoming waters of humanity's accelerating evolution. Can you surrender into holding the both/and, into embracing paradox, into stepping outside the "this or that" choices we're accustomed to? Can you become chaotically content, can you create ecstatic inner peace? Can you be a work in progress, and realize you're already a masterpiece?
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