Guiding Thought
What memories do we have of beauty? How are beauty and freedom related? What are we learning passively, simply by showing up to think about beauty every day?
Reflection / Contemplation
I am taking a bit of a break today, not from Beauty, of course, but from my earnest and strident nature. One of today’s guiding thoughts addresses the passive learning of Beauty by just showing up. And so my plan for the day is to be filled with the Beauty of Ease.
My closest and dearest companions know well how I am #1 on the Enneagram (a system of for psycho-spiritual development with origins suspected from the Ennead – ancient Greece – and worked their way through the Desert Fathers, and Sufis and in the more modern times, Gurdjieff to psychiatry, the Jesuits, the Diamond-Heart Approach is now a bit more mainstream). A suggested spiritual practice for my particular Enneagram type is to color outside the lines, step away from routine and order, the idea of perfect. My house itself is not always in order, and my friends laugh at the description of this type, but this system addresses the internal landscape and dialogue. I readily identify with the #1.
Some folks are turned off by this system, as they think it is too negative. They want a nicer entry to inner work. I had first come to this system through the Jesuits and spiritual direction in my early 20’s. I didn’t do a whole lot with it and then about 10 years ago it popped up while I was listening to a radio interview with Richard Rohr OFM (a Franciscan priest) who is a big proponent of this system. He believes this is one of the best forms of spiritual work for our times. Mind you, the return of this system into my life was not peaches and cream. It was another, “I have been found out” moment, and spoke so loud, I could not ignore it.
Those tight shoulders which I mentioned a few days ago received some better attention than a continuing education course could. I got a massage and reminder, too, of how I hold myself in the work I do and the nudge to make it easier on my body/shoulders. Ah, ease.
As my day is just getting started it will be an interesting experiment to stay at ease with all things and see where and how Beauty shows up, especially in relationship and community.
Guest Contributor Lita Artis
Journey of Beauty is now available as a free book.
You no longer need to wait for the Guiding Thoughts to be posted here daily–you may move at your own pace. This link will take you to the document in Dropbox; you may download it from there.
I accept donations and gifts via paypal: paypal.me/SusanBillmaier Thank you for the energy exchange!
Here is the schedule:
Apr 18 Preliminary day Introduction: Why A Journey of Beauty (02.10.0)
Apr 19 Preliminary day Commitment and Dedication (02.10.00)
Apr 20 – 29 Days 01-10 Round One (02.10.01-10)
Apr 30 – May 9 Days 11-20 Round Two (02.10.11-20)
May 10 – 19 Days 21-30 Round Three (02.10.21-30)
May 20 – 29 Days 31-40 Round Four (02.10.31-40)
May 30 – June 8 Reflection days Gently care, de-fuse, and write one day of reflection on the Journey (02.10.41)
Like this:
Like Loading...
SusanWithPearls 