XXII: Allowing
Soul Dialogue
Allowing
Lately, I have been experiencing life as though I am moving between cycles.
Perhaps you have felt something like this too.
There are times when the pace and intensity of life seem amplified. Things we thought we had left behind begin surfacing again—not necessarily because we have failed to resolve them, but perhaps because something is asking to be touched once more, felt more deeply, and released.
It can feel as though we are stepping out of something.
An attitude.
A familiar way of experiencing ourselves.
A way of living that once fit but somehow no longer does.
And yet, what comes next has not fully revealed itself.
We are somewhere in between.
Releasing ... and beginning to ease into whatever is emerging.
Between the Cycles
I have noticed that during these times I can feel unusually tired.
Sometimes almost blank.
There have been moments when I have felt frustrated by this. Part of me wants to understand what is happening, to become more active, to move things along.
And then something quieter reminds me:
Simply breathe.
Simply breathe.
Perhaps there are times when we are not being asked to understand.
Perhaps we are being asked to allow.
To become quieter.
To move less.
To rest.
To let ourselves be emptied for a while without immediately trying to fill the empty space.
And so I breathe.
Or perhaps more accurately...
I allow myself to be breathed.
Being Emptied
As I soften into this quietness, there is a felt sense of something releasing.
I don’t necessarily know what it is.
And increasingly, I don’t need to.
Something seems to be clearing.
Something loosening.
Something being emptied.
And rather than searching for meaning, I am learning to remain quietly with the experience.
Breathing.
Resting.
Allowing.
Then sometimes within that stillness, I begin noticing something else.
A subtle glow.
A soft felt sense of lovingness.
Almost like a current of life moving around me and resonating deeply within my body.
And from somewhere within that experience, words begin arising naturally:
I am.
I am love.
I am love.
Not as something I am trying to convince myself to believe.
Not an affirmation I need to make true.
Simply words arising within my experience.
I am.
I am love.
At first, perhaps only occasionally.
And then I notice myself returning to this many times throughout the day.
Not deliberately counting.
Simply remembering.
Breathing.
Softening.
I am love.
And something continues opening.
Perhaps We Can Experience This Together
As you are reading these words, perhaps you might pause with me.
Just for a moment.
Notice your breath.
There is nothing you need to change.
Nothing you need to accomplish.
Simply notice that you are breathing.
And perhaps ... allow yourself to be breathed.
...
Maybe there is something in your life that you have been carrying.
Something unfinished.
Something changing.
Something you cannot yet understand.
You don’t need to solve it right now.
Perhaps, for this moment, we can simply allow it to be here.
Breathing.
Softening.
Allowing.
...
What would happen if we did not immediately try to understand everything we are experiencing?
What if some changes need spaciousness before they need language?
What if the blankness we sometimes resist is not actually empty?
Perhaps something is being released.
Perhaps something is opening.
Perhaps we don’t yet need to know.
The Simplicity of Being
As this continues, notice a simpler clarity emerging.
Not the clarity of having answers.
Something quieter.
An inner calm.
A soft stillness.
A sense of presence.
There is an aliveness within it.
Something that feels both around us and deeply within.
And increasingly, ou practice is simply to remain available.
Open.
Quiet.
Observant.
Alive.
Breathing.
Something releasing.
Something opening.
And within that movement ... allowing.
Allowing this breath.
Allowing this quiet.
Allowing the stillness.
Allowing what is ready to leave to release naturally.
Allowing what is emerging to reveal itself in its own time.
Perhaps this is one of the quieter invitations of transformation.
We do not always need to know where we are going.
Sometimes we are simply crossing a bridge.
And perhaps there are places along that crossing where effort cannot take us.
We can only soften.
Listen.
Breathe.
And allow ourselves to be carried for a while by something deeper than our understanding.
So perhaps, wherever you are today, we can share a breath together.
No destination.
No answer required.
Just this.
Breathing.
Being breathed.
Allowing.
Simply allowing.
And somewhere within that spaciousness ... loving gratitude.
PS: Today, we’ll also post a Soul Dialogue Contemplation PODCAST of today’s article.
If this Article speaks with you, and feel it may also speak with others, be encouraged to forward it to them.
Loving Gratitude,
Otan
otan@otanpatrickford.com
1.973.229.7174
https://www.otanpatrickford.com