evolve
This summer was the best, wasn’t it?
Travel, friends, parties, sunshine, sports, early mornings, and long nights. It is pretty impossible to be mad when the sun is shining.
During the craziness of the endless summer, I needed some alone time.
Take a breath
Take a hike
Be in nature
On a path less traveled…I come across a great blue heron.
Still
Calm
Powerful
Alone
It was a magical moment. Why though? I couldn’t put my finger on it.
My subconscious sat on that moment for some time. Time goes by. Change happens. Fall sneaks up on us. Winter shows signs of approaching with the cold air and fallen leaves. 2024 New Year - “What are we doing for the 1st?!” Friends mumble occasionally.
My subconscious brought that summer memory back to me today. What is the message?
According to North American Native tradition, the Blue Heron brings messages of self-determination and self-reliance. They represent an ability to progress and evolve. The long thin legs of the heron reflect that an individual doesn't need great massive pillars to remain stable, but must be able to stand on one's own.
Blue Herons have the innate wisdom of being able to manoeuvre through life and co-create their own circumstances. Blue Herons reflect a need for those with this totem to follow their on unique wisdom and path of self-determination. These individuals know what is best for themselves and need to follow their hearts rather than the promptings of others. Those with the Medicine of the Great Blue Heron may sit until the rest of us loose patience. And, when they follow the promptings of the heart, they are one of the most magnificent when they choose to soar.
This is the message that Blue Heron brings.
Again, The Blue Heron represents an ability to progress and evolve.
This is what this blog, Washed Up, is all about.
As I talked about in Ride the Wave - you are washed up on a new shore, a new beach, a new situation, a new life journey with new people, and it is finally time. It is time to dust yourself off and find the next wave.
Embrace the wave and embrace the change.
Life is change. It is a consistent state of flow. Better depicted, according to Chinese Philosopher Lao Tzu, Life is a dynamic path full of uncertainty and instability whose source is an energic flow.
Washed Up - a flow, from wave to wave, from one challenge to the next, from one experience and relationship to the next.
Your unwillingness to accept change is making you unhappy. No, happiness is not the goal, but peace. Peace within yourself. Like the Heron - calm, strong, steady, willing to evolve.
Allostasis - order, disorder, reorder
Allostasis means ‘achieving stability through change.’ It is a term that pushes us to adapt rather than seek order and familiarity.
Why would you want to order your whole life? Put some WD-40 on the bones, you grumpy old bag, and make this life spectacular.
Your life will become much more spectacular if you view suffering and change optimistically. You will have a tolerance for emotional instability and, in turn, more empathy for those going through the depths of hell.
Life is a human experience, not an individual experience. There are other people surfing waves all around you. Some are unwilling to let go of that perfect wave. Some are unwilling to catch another wave. Some are thinking about another wave rather than enjoying the one they are on.
Slow it down, Kelly Slater. Stand on your own. Follow your heart.
And don’t be afraid to get washed upppp.
-Molesy