That Spark

One of my soul friends wrote something that touched my core today. Uncomfortably so...and I'm glad. This is my heart in words. I shared with her that it captivated me and she responded with "...then this is for you and also me. A love letter to every moment... May they be used to hand make our futures!! xoxo..." I feel that there's so much within this love letter. I'll be meditating on this one for quite some time. Have a read. Let it resonate where it will. & then go check out her website! She's most incredibly talented in her photography, her art, her writings and she's published!

We are all looking for that spark,
that one idea,
that one decision,
that will revolutionize our world.
Our spirit.
Our relationships.
Our career.
When we find that spark,
we start making choices.
New choices.
Different choices than before.
We grow immensely or heal rapidly.
That spark is the one that lights the inner fire.
The thing about a spark is in the presence of void it has no power.
Substance and Being must be Present.
The spark must have something to light....Which means that this spark changes your world only when you have a world to change.
A culmination of everything you have learned up until this moment is set in motion.
Set ablaze.
Each shift, each opening has prepared the ground for harvest,
Each log and leaf prepares for the roaring fire.
Leaving an unhealthy relationship.
Quitting that job you hate.
Going to therapy.
Moving on. Or up. Or too.
Starting your dream project.
Having this baby.
Saying yes to whatever you said no to before when you were too scared.
All are big shifts.
But really they are a culmination of little shifts,
little shifts that have been opening ones soul for the leap.
Which is to say:
all of life matters.
The small connections.
The little sentences of inspiration.
That act of kindness.
That act of grace.
That act of selflessness.
The choice to remain present.
The choice to love yourself anyway.
To keep getting up and trying.
Each moment matters if you want the spark that will change your world.
Because it's all tinder.
You won't know which day brings the big change to your door.
But it will come.
It always does to those who collect stick by stick,
moment by moment, placing them together as an altar.
Prepare and gather enough to withstand the hours and seasons of waiting.
So when the spark comes... the fire will roar.
The fire won't die out.
The fire will burn all that does not belong.
www.aglobalwalk.com (Ashley Fincham)

Accompanying Photo By Ashe Arends Photography

Expect the Unexpected

There's really no way to prepare for the unexpected. How could you know how to prepare for the unexpected when it is not yet known? So why even take the time to say that we should expect the unexpected. I suppose it's because the only preparation we can make for anything unexpected is to have open expectation, to be willing to take on whatever may come.

expect [ik-spekt] 

verb (used with object)

1.

to look forward to; regard as likely to happen; anticipate the occurrence or the  coming of:

I expect to read it. I expect him later. She expects that they will come.

2.

to look for with reason or justification:

We expect obedience.

3.

Informal. to suppose or surmise; guess:

I expect that you are tired from the trip.

4.

to anticipate the birth of (one's child):

Paul and Sylvia expect their second very soon.

To be expectant is to look forward to, to suppose, to anticipate. But none of these things necessarily equate to preparation itself. Preparation is a whole thing in itself but we often pair preparation with expectation like a good glass of wine and fine cheese. I think what I am learning about expectation is that there really is no way to be fully prepared. Especially when on this tiny planet we call The World, living this little thing we call Life.

Life is ever changing and surprising. If we stop to think about it, we live our lives by expectation everyday, preparing as much as we can for what we know the day may hold, and supposing the rest by what information we can gather and piece together for the endless possibilities. I think I have just come to the realization that if I had to choose to live my life one way or another I would probably choose to live an expectant life rather than a life fully prepared. My adventure heart-strings and wanderlust spirit would die within me if I lived a life fully prepared. Now, don't get me wrong, for those of you who know me you know that I am a planner. I am all about the details. But, there is something beautiful about the big picture that I am still learning about. I think my spirit ultimately longs to embrace the big picture. It's exciting! It's inviting! It's adventure calling! There has to be a healthy mix for everyone. I can only imagine the stress and anxiety that some people suffer when they are stuck in a planned and prepared lifestyle, and when I say this I mean to reference to extreme planning and preparing. Cinematically I can imagine a story about a mid-twenty something female who is obsesses over having the planned and prepared life. Only to find that everything that can "go wrong" does, because it's not within her plans or control. Yet, they are only wrong because it's "not a part of the plan." The sad part of it all is that these unexpected happenings could be beautiful, or are, but she is so blinded by her own control that she can't see it. 

I do not want to be the embodiment to this somewhat fictional character. I want to learn to accept change and the unexpected with grace. I want to be able to have peace when a curve ball is thrown my way. I want to be excited about the possibility ahead rather than worried about details of the now and to come. I want to choose that when things happen they are in perfect timing. What a sad life it would be to come to the end of it and realize that it was all about me. What a meaningless life it would be to live it knowing that I was in control of everything and everyone. We would have no sense of accomplishment. No sense of achievement. We wouldn't grow. Simply, we would exist to keep going till we can't anymore, and I don't want that. 

So here we are encouraged to expect the unexpected and this is the first time I have thought about this in-depth. I am hoping that all of these words I just exploded on the page are making sense. I'm coming to the conclusion that being expectant doesn't mean that you have to be prepared. There is movement in our culture to "plan for the unexpected" but I honestly don't think that it's possible to live that way. You can't plan for the unexpected because all we can plan for is what we know may be possible and those are not unexpected things. It's a life lived by faith. It's a life lived in trust. It's a life lived by expectation. It's living a life open to "come what may."