Meet Them at the Door Laughing

The recent eclipses in Capricorn and Cancer were among the most challenging in several years. One of the reasons for this was the participation of Pluto, the planet of power and transformation, and Uranus, the planet of upheaval in this eclipse cycle.

I imagine several of you got rocked during the last month like I did.

If so, you’re in luck.

No really. Jupiter, the planet of good fortune is also one of the major players in this series. But let’s not focus too much on the astrology, because upheaval and transformation are what this article is about, no matter when or how it is happening for you.

In the poem “The Guest House,” 13th century Sufi poet Jelladin Rumi wrote of these unbidden events and emotions as visitors to be entertained, or met “at the door, laughing” rather than as the grave and debilitating misfortune we usually take them for.

Rumi wrote: “Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture.”

In general, we just don’t do this. Our first reaction to anything seeming to go “haywire” is usually one of anger or frustration. As humans, with our limited human bodies and our conditioned human minds, we tend to react with judgment when it appears that we are not getting what we asked for, or worse, getting the opposite.

“Back to square one,” we say.

Well, if you know anything about the Law of Attraction, you know that that’s a sure way to get more of what we don’t want. But since that’s how we were conditioned, that’s exactly what we do. We react. That’s our default.

But what if we met these challenges at the door  (if not exactly laughing) knowing?

As in knowing what they truly were. For example: the difficult person you have to work for, a teacher who is here to help you get neutral on his/her particular set of  personality quirks so that you can move up without continuing to give your power away to these types. The unexpected bill, an opportunity to creatively manifest new prosperity to meet that obligation, and to view it as something that can be handled. The unsuitable suitor, a chance to choose yourself over another (this is huge). Agents of transformation, all of them.

So, what if we met them at the door knowing that on the other side of this experience was the transformation we have been asking for?

As I’ve said in many sessions, (and to myself many more times than I can count) this is an opportunity to  really practice being the person you have asked yourself to be.

Granted, it is much easier to practice your Oscar speech or the way you’ll walk across the red carpet. But whenever a request has been heard, there is usually a test to see if you’re really up for what you say you are. If you are getting rocked, take heart, your request has been received.

Here’s the problem: most people view it as more of the same. They take this delivery as evidence that they will never get what they truly want. And then things continue to be more of the same. No surprise in that.

But if you’ve read this far, you’re ready to rise above that old way of being and accept the gift that the visitor offers, rather than refusing it before you’ve had a chance to open it.

Opening the gift is the only way to know what it truly is. This often takes time. Being with your feelings around it—rather than stuffing them or wallowing in them—is the way to move through the challenge.

What are some practical ways to work with this energy of transformation?

1. Journal. Write it out. Start with your complaints, watching yourself as you do this. See where the writing leads you.
2. Have a conscious breakdown. Give yourself an hour. Let yourself feel what you feel, all the while being present to what is happening. Notice the urge to go unconscious (let the feeling take over, wallow in it). Just let the feeling come through.
3. Be more in the body than in the mind. Run, walk, swim, dance, clean the house.
4. Meditate. Do yoga. Pick any task and do it mindfully.
5. Be creative. Make art or soup. Build something.
6. Ask yourself  “How would the person I really want to be handle this situation?” Then do that.

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What did the eclipse cycle set in motion for you? Work with the tremendous energy of the recent eclipses to create transformation in your life. Call me for a session (619) 275-1731.