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I was born the year the sound barrier was broken. By itself that doesn't account for the fact that throughout my life, I've taken the road less traveled and more unraveled than the average person--but I do enjoy the symbolism. My break-free style is also reflected in the prominence of the planet Uranus in my birth chart. Sometimes a single planet dominates the celestial pattern and for me it's the individuating, stereotype-kicking, risk-taking Uranus. I can spot it in my lineage too. My great grandmother, Mary, was a minister's wife who, in the early 1900's, didn't see fit to attend her husband's church--or any church. Even so, it still surprises me that I'm packing up my life to live on a Hawaiian isle; and while the enormity of it keeps me blinking in the dark some nights, there's this: it's the kind of thing I've always done. I'm just getting more flagrant and I think I know why: My essence is starting to gel into a message--a message I was born with and have been practicing all this time but am now ready to embody. The phraseology may not be refined yet, but the message is something like this:
- Why "act your age" when you have the option to keep exploding the myth of who you are...and become ageless?
- Why suit up in stereotypes when you can step out of them and into a ball gown of truth?
- Why sit on the sidelines when you can participate in your own radical evolution?
You don't have to be born the year the sound barrier was broken, have a prominent Uranus, or a rebellious great grandmother to know when it's time to flip the switch on your own personal stereotypes. You just have to listen to the voice inside who invites you to go boldly into the present, doing and being what you've never been ready to do and be until now! |
1. Naked in a Waterfall isn't something most women have on their "to-do" list. But once the opportunity presents itself, it might seem like the most freeing, luxurious prospect they've had in a long time. Maybe it takes sneaking past the gates of self-consciousness, but once beyond them ... bliss! But "naked in the waterfall" is just a paradigm for doing the thing no one expects you to do-least of all yourself. Those choices, whatever they might be, are a key to exploding the myth of you.
2. Exploding the Myth. "Who wrote the book of love?" the oldies song asks. Well, who wrote the myth of you? Didn't know you were a mythologist, did you? Expanding who we think, say, or believe we are requires fuel that only we can supply. What life experience would you LOVE to put in the same sentence with your own name--but are afraid to speak out loud? Right there inside the fear is the storyline of your myth.
3. Shocking Your Children. In the last few years, I've confused and shocked my children by going breaking out of my own myth. "My Mom would never do that," my son said when his partner asked if I'd be snorkeling in Hawaii for my 60th birthday. My daughter said she would only believe it if she saw pictures before, during and after. A couple of years later, I went zip-lining in the Hawaiian forest and set off a whole new set of shock waves. Why can shocking your children be a good thing? What better measure that you are truly stepping out of your stereotypes?
4. What's Your Waterfall? Naked in a waterfall may not ring your bell but something does. Is that bell ringing loudly? Barely audible under the covers of your life? Not sure you have a bell and if you do not sure where you put it? A friend of mine was recently challenged to do one outrageous thing in 2010. If you want to turn the volume up on that challenge, ask yourself what outrageous thing you want to BE this year...and let the doing flow from that. Remember that "outrageous" to you may look tame to someone else. All that matters is that you feel the rush, the aliveness, or the peace that it creates for you!
What's your image of being outrageously, authentically yourself before the year ends?
Together on the Evolving Journey,
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The Peaceful Woman... Passage and the Blog 
One day on my Maui Passage, I stood amidst the bamboo, listening to the gentle giants talk to me. Then I hiked deep into the bamboo forest with my peaceful woman sisters ... until we came upon a secluded waterfall that emptied into a stunning pool of blue. The option to be naked in a waterfall! I'm not much of a "water person," and so I sat on a rock, enjoying the frivolity of my friends. Alas, the energy won me over and I prepared to join them, but a change in circumstances suddenly closed the window on a myth-exploding opportunity.
I experienced other myth-exploding moments that week, but I look forward to returning to that spot and seeing what happens. Will I again choose just to be a witness to abandon and joy? Or will I leap in, suited or unsuited, to have my moment in the waterfall?
I will be facilitating my first Maui Passage is September 19 -- 25.
Check out this No Lecture retreat in Nature's Classroom where your unfolding truth holds center stage in the midst of Maui's beauty and the loving support of your own circle of six!
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© 2009 Evolving Journey. All Rights Reserved. Contact Maridel Bowes at maridelbowes@gmail.com.
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