Cosmic Shifts and Now What?
Part 5 of a journey through diagnosis, surgery and healing
Written: February 28, 2017
Not dying creates a real problem.
You have to live.
You have to keep figuring life out. You have to decide who you are and who you want to be and what you want to do and how you want to impact the world.
I was happy to not die. Trust me. I was VERY relieved to wake up. Even if I was puking and sore and bruised and oozing fluids from my lady-parts. Waking up was gross and painful and messy and joyful.
I had such an emotional build-up to surgery and the possibility that I might not wake up (it happens…see Bill Paxton as a recent and very real example), that when I woke up, I realized I needed to REALLY wake up and make a new plan…for living.
As a typical (over-)planner, I congratulated myself on NOT planning beyond surgery, other than for the worst-case-scenario. I felt compelled to plan for the messy and hard parts of my potential death, as a way to ease the burden that would be placed on my loved ones. Beyond that, I didn’t make any definite plans for the rest of the year…when I’d be back at work; only tentative dates with my coaching clients; no for-sure family vacations; no commitments to playshops or retreats or other endeavours and adventures.
And now I find myself in a state of utter and complete possibility.
What a gift.
And, it feels like I have to get this right, given the chance. The possibility of dying is a wake up call to make better choices. To live life on purpose, on my purpose. In alignment with who I am and what I’m here to do. Living consciously. Living intentionally. Making the world a better place, even if in small ways.
I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself. I mean, I still have to wait for biopsy results and next steps in terms of potential treatment and monitoring, but my intuition tells me things are going to be okay.
But, the weird solar eclipse/new moon in Pisces stuff that happened a couple days ago created some shifts in my focus. I’m not completely knowledgeable about or even fully believing in the interpretations of the influences of the cosmos on our lives, but there is something to be said for another source of information to enlighten our perspectives. Another framework through which to view our lives, emotions, desires, disappointments.
The messages of the recent cosmic activity are of releasing the old and designing the new; of closing a chapter of our lives and writing a new one for the future; of making up or breaking up (romantic or other relationships, including with ourselves). All good stuff. Truthfully, this could be anyone’s focus at anytime, but with the power of Pisces (my sign!) behind me, it feels like the right time to be consciously focusing on these aspects of my life.
So, for the next several months, I feel drawn to focusing on, refining, honouring, creating and clarifying the following:
1. My relationship with myself. This includes giving myself care, real care as I need it, before I need it, to heal my body, grow my love of self, and be healthy in all aspects of the word. This means accepting help. Asking for help. Making priority time for movement, rest and nourishment. Being more than just a mom or manager or coach or wife. Embracing all of me and leveraging my strengths.
2. My marriage and connection to my spouse. This June, we will have been together for 15 years. There has been magic, and it hasn’t all been easy. No marriage is. As we celebrate our time together and plan for the future, I want to be clear about what this marriage is and isn’t, what our roles and expectations are, and how we will continue to grow as individuals and as a couple. Better communication. More fun. Amazing intimacy. A true partnership.
3. How I will serve in this world. I’ve had so many ideas bouncing around my head about programs and courses and playshops and ways to make a difference in this world. I’ve wanted to create an online course for people to get clear about their lives. I’ve wanted to create an in-person women’s circle for nourishment and connection. I’ve wanted to create playful space for deeper conversations between couples and singles, deeper date nights. I’ve wanted to focus on EOL coaching. I’ve wanted to lead a meditation group. I’ve wanted to expand my art-based playshops. I’ve wanted to write more and publish my book(s).
It’s time to make these things real. That means creating disciplined creative time; finding playshop spaces with the right feel; creating content; learning the technology to share; collaborating with others; contacting that publisher and just going for it. Knowing that my gifts and how I deliver these ideas in my unique way will bring more peace and connection and love to the world.
These are my near-death-informed intentions for what’s coming next. It won’t be perfect, by any means. And that’s just fine. It will be raw and real and it will grow into what it needs to be in the world right now.
