I asked Great Mother Creator, “Why do we come here only to experience these horrible, hard, awful things? Why can’t we just live in peace and harmony?”
Her simple answer was surprising! “Peace and harmony gets boring.”
What!!!
Right before this personal exchange with Great Mother,* I had needed to rage.
Because of all of the awful, terrifying things happening in the world. Because of the hardships in the lives of friends and family.
Because how can my life be so damn good, so resourced, when so many people the world over struggle for their daily survival, are climate and war refugees, or are actively being bombed. (I have my struggles too, of course, but perspective is humbling. And perspective can make our struggles feel insignificant and unworthy of concern- but that’s a topic for another time maybe.)
So, I pounded on my (entitled) yoga bolster while yelling and sobbing. And then I Shamanic Journeyed to Great Mother Creator.
And I asked Great Mother, “Why do we come here only to experience these horrible, hard, awful things? Why can’t we just live in peace and harmony?”
This is what She taught me:
Peace and harmony gets boring. Our Spirits get restless for adventure and experience.
In between these embodied lives, when we are merged with Great Mother, we experience peace and harmony- for as long as we can stand it! And for as long as She can stand it too, for we are minuscule parts of Her.
So, we have peace and harmony and begin to yearn and strive for adventure and experience. So, our Spirits go and do that- we embody and come to Earth (that’s one of our options anyway). Then, while we are embodied on this adventurous experience (complete with hardship and horror), we begin to yearn and strive for peace and harmony.
When we are done here, we go back to Her and experience peace and harmony for a time, but we begin to yearn and strive for adventure and experience!
The overarching lesson?
THIS YEARNING AND STRIVING ARE WHAT PROPEL LIFE!
This surprised me because so much of the spiritual/consciousness/mindfulness type teachings are of NOT yearning and NOT striving.
Given all the yearning and striving I do, I’ve spent a fair amount of my energy berating myself for yearning and striving. Or trying to stop yearning and striving. Or trying to balance all the yearning and striving with rest and self care.
What if yearning and striving were okay? Good even. What if yearning and striving are exactly what we are here to do?
I’m not saying to be unbalanced about it, or to not take care of your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs along the way. I’m just saying, what if we allowed for this Truth: that our yearning and our striving are what propel life?
Would something shift in you? You who cares so deeply about this planet, about all the Humans and other Beings that inhabit her. What if we are here precisely to yearn for peace and harmony so that we take the striving actions to make the world a better place for All?
And what if we don’t see the fruits of that striving? What if things continue to be worse and worse? What then? Will our yearning and striving have been enough?
We are not always going to feel “YES!” as the answer to that question. But maybe, sometimes, we will feel into that “yes” and know it holds a seed of the Truth.
Blessings and Courage,
Betti
* I am able to have personal exchanges with Great Mother Creator because I have learned the skill of the Shamanic Journey. In a Shamanic Journey I safely allow a part of my Spirit to travel in the Spirit World to interact with my Spirit Guides for the purposes of guidance and information, healing, transformational experiences, and receiving unconditional love. Anyone can learn to Shamanic Journey and develop their own direct connection to the Divine! Experience a Guided Shamanic Journey with me: https://sacraltransformations.com/shamanic-journey/
Betti Rooted Lionheart (she/her) is passionate about working with Queer People, Teens, Healers, Activists, Change Makers, and anyone who feels despair for the Earth and Humanity. She is a Shamanic Healer, a Spiritual Empowerment Activist, a Fire Priestess, a Writer, a Facilitator of the Work That Reconnects, a Minister of the Church of Earth Healing, the Mother of two Sons, Queer, and the founder of Braided Root Waters Healing Sanctuary in Trumansburg, NY.
Betti offers powerfully transformative one-to-one Shamanic Healing Sessions. She also teaches Shamanic Journeying so that you are empowered to heal and transform yourself, remember your power and purpose, and take aligned action in service of the Earth and All Life. Betti can help you access your Sacred Rage and reclaim the Divine Feminine and Divine Dark for collective and planetary healing.
Published in “The Community Voice” Rohnert Park, CA