Resistance

I wrote last about recommitting to commitment. Commitment starts with an intention-a mental and emotional process- and then requires action to become real. As I work with staying committed I am next aware of resistance, not to the commitment, but to the action which gives life to my commitments.  I came 'face to face' with my resistance a couple of days ago. I was struggling to give time to finishing some web pages necessary for the re-launch of the CircleofSelf website.  I could not grasp what was holding me back.  Resistance.  I said out loud (always talking to myself) "If resistance had a face-maybe I could understand what's going on."  Scripture from a number of sources say: "Ask and you shall receive."

The next morning I had a chance to create the face of my own resistance as mask-making was the activity presented in a women's group of which I am a part.  I didn't want to make a mask of my resistance, but the image would not leave me alone, and so I gave in to it and literally created a mask of my resistance.  (Mask making is a great exploratory tool for revealing the more hidden parts of ourselves and trying on 'new faces' so to speak. Ever been in a Halloween costume and started to feel and act like the character you had put on? It's little scary how easy it can be to embody certain characters!)  I now have a visual of 'my resistance' created from my intuition and imagination . 

I will be working with this mask for a while and share anything I feel might be helpful.  At this point, I have become aware of a couple of things- I had earlier in my women's group created a mask made as a visual of my 'Calling'. When I had time to look at the two masks, I saw the 'resistance' mask had all the same visual representations of my 'Calling' mask, but presented in a very different way.  If you want to know more about getting in touch with your own life purpose-or what I experience a "Calling", (of which life-purpose is a part) you can find instructions on the CircleofSelf website, or check out chapter three in Marian Baker's book "Wake Up Inspired"  New Story Press, 2006.  In this chapter, Marian has created some comprehensive exercises specifically for getting in touch with your purpose.

Re-committing to Our Commitment

After my morning prayers, this is what came to my awareness: Commitment is not static it is a process.  Commit to recommit on an ongoing basis.  The commitment looks different every day and even in every moment.  What is consistent is the process of recommitting each time we get off track-get distracted from our calling.  This is the consistent part of our life journey: coming back again and again to our commitment to our calling.