These words and stories are a contribution to Clare's post in the community.
Can we keep the conversation going? What do these words, these ideas bring up for you? If you are the type who likes to take notes, what did you scribble down that belongs to your experience when hearing Clare speak?
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Below I will share around two things I scribbled down while watching the video:
A first one is around the number 21 - as in 21 reasons why 'something bad' is a treasure in our lives right now.
Who of you can inform us around the gift that the numbers 3, 7, and 21 represent?
I have always been drawn to these numbers, I've learnt the Christian interpretations and I would welcome more secular, mythical versions.
There is also the actual amount, 21, as quite a few reasons and the beautiful work that our brains need to do is a treasure in itself.
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The second thought that springs to mind is a story I am currently living. It has many similarities with Clare's example in the video, in the sense that it is also taking place in a small village in the country side, it involves the house and our perceived comfort within it, and it also involves an expansion of the community and our belonging to it, embracing challenges around language and communication.
Once upon a time, a couple on a journey arrives in a small village. They arrived here through a combination of skillful action and flow looking for peace and grounding in order to gain clarity and learn to listen for the next step to take.
They found a small house that fit perfectly their needs: view overlooking the valley, a step away from the communal fountain, small but cozy and comfortable. The village is surrounded by hikes and beautiful nature, a nature that is in deep regeneration, just like them, after having gone through a series of trials and challenges and having come out of it a bit wiser, resilient, and maybe more hopeful.
The house has a leaky roof, or so they were informed by the owner. It was supposed to be fixed but the owner does not speak the language nor does she live in the country. So the couple offered to take care of organizing the work thinking they might stay for the winter too. They felt so happy when one neighbor told them he knows how to fix it and that he would do it. And so the couple enjoyed the summer days roll by. Several times they reminded the neighbor that they are here whenever he is ready to start the work, before the rain comes. 'Next week' he kept saying.
Until three days ago, all was well, when a huge storm came brining in heavy gray clouds (a relief for the nature around) and days of rain. The couple started feeling worried about the roof and the damage this could bring. A bit angry at themselves for acting naïve and trusting in the timing of the neighbor. 'Should I have been firmer? Give him a deadline!' Wondering now if he was the right person to do it when they would have loved to give the work to another neighbor who, at the time they arrived had a hand injury and would not have been able to do the work.
Last night, dark and rainy, the wife of the second neighbor knocks on the door and asks if we are fine, if there are leaks in the house, because if there are, we can always stay at their place. She also wants to let us know that her husband and another neighbor will find a way to work on our roof next week.
I felt so held, cared for, and sure in my action to relieve the first neighbor of his responsibility to fix the roof. He somehow also looked relieved. The forecast announces sun tomorrow so the works can start with a pair of willing and engaged friends to fix our roof as if it were theirs.
'We want you to stay here, we don't want you to have to move because of a leaky roof', the wife had told me last night.
The leaky roof is a treasure that came with the house. From the very first weeks it enabled us to tell our story around the village - we are here for three months and possibly more. But if we stay more we need to take care of the roof before the rains start. The owner of the house is happy that there is someone who takes care of this to avoid work in the spring again, and we are learning to look for the signs of struggle or flow around us. It was a struggle to communicate with the first neighbor, and not the fun type of many hand gestures when you don't know the words - but rather a power play where I felt quite stuck to assert myself of the importance of the work for us in due time. A huge energy came over me (and maybe him too) when we untied the agreement we had made.
I am sure that these instances of flow and synchronicity were present in my life before this as well, when I was living in a city, in a flat without knowing my neighbors. I must have had another community that worked in the same mysterious ways. You who lives in the city, away from the particular community of a village, how are you living these types of experiences? Can you share them here?
The gift of the leaky roof brought clarity to our needs and the practice to speak about them and ask for help. The almost constant rain has not done any damage yet. We feel like we belong already to a community of kind people whose lives feel enriched by our presence - that is a true gift I bow my head to everyday and learn to hold, appreciate without shame, guilt or feeling undeserving.
I love how we can leverage HUGE energy and mental-emotional freedom, through shifting our perspective especially of the seemingly biggest 'problems' in our magical story!
Letting go of the negative weight of assuming big challenges as a 'burden' - seeing them in fact as a gateway into learning, being a bigger person, seeing more of the world, being more connected and interconnected...
Making a transition into this perspective of true Gift - it ripples immense change into all our interactions!
My own journey to settling into a new town also involved similar realisations to yours, dear Corina - to begin with; my initiation into the town: in my fear-mind I was homeless, alone abroad, without the language, with no income, no connections or friends, no potential opportunities or signs....
ALL of that turned around completely, through my trusting in spirit, trusting that I was actually in the perfect place NO MATTER HOW IT LOOKED TO MY FEAR-MIND in that moment - and less than two weeks later I was standing in my own home, with the keys in my hands, eyes-mind-heart blown open, and beginning my grounding of the dream that I'd originally been drawn here by... :-D If I'd let me fear-mind drive me, I'd have turned of my heels and run home, and would've missed out on my dream (of owning my own home) ENTIRELY.
As I am reading your wonderful text @clareartista and almost able to feel the wind and coolness on my face by looking at your photo ... one realization springs to mind. It can be taken almost like a small daily practice.
I have begun paying attention to what kind of greetings I leave people with. 'Have a nice, easy day' started to sound really damaging to me because it somehow eliminates the possibility of having a wonderfully challenging day, or a day that brings up a 'burden' that we are able to deal with, no matter how hard it might be.
It's an ongoing practice really, especially by email, I find it more difficult to stay true to what my heart wants to spread toward that particular person (sometimes love, water, sun, warmth, determination, compassion, courage...) still feeling embarrassed to write like that. But I am getting there.
I wonder what your thoughts are on this? What daily practices can we apply to open us up to gift?
Yes! I love that we can keep our focus on people's courage to change, on their ability to navigate and their grace to hold energy in a day - rather than trying to force a smile when Life can be such blood-sweat-tears. It's a very valid point to expand on this idea, and be more conscious in what we're actually transmitting to people with our words!