Mixed Blessings

 What a month it’s been. Like a dog on a lead we’ve all been itching to get out of this confinement and spring into action. But like all things everything has its time. This month has been all about preparation, as the buds prepare to burst out from the winter’s stillness and the baby is preparing to leave the mother’s womb; timing is everything. The last stages of gestation cannot be rushed and no one understand this better than Mother Nature. Spending time with her is the blessing and the teaching. When we feel ourselves pulling against her and try and rush our way out of this she gently guides us and reins us in, if we choose to listen.

The Pisces constellation shows two fish bound together by a cord and held by a knot at a central point. They are pulling in opposite directions and here we find ourselves in polarity pulling against each other. The star that connects the two fish is called Typhon and is named after a great conflict in Greek Mythology and where we get the name typhoon.

It feels as if we are living in the middle of a storm, and finding the eye, the place of peace, at the core of this is vital. While we spend so much energy pitting our beliefs against each other, pulling in our directions of righteousness, I would like to call people to remember that conflict is gift, it is an opportunity to come together and respectfully learn from each other and grow.

Listening to an online talk by an American Rabbi i was drawn to a story about rope, about the fact that when a rope frays and we weave the broken ends back together, this part of the rope is stronger than any other part.

This is our opportunity to choose to work together to reconcile our conflicts, to surrender to the possibility that we may not be 100% right and that the ‘other’, who we believe we are in conflict with, might hold some of the answers too. Then we can grow back together stronger than ever because of the healing process we have chosen to work through.

There are always solutions to conflicts, when we are ready to let go of our fears, our need to control and our need to be right. This is our time. Let’s walk hand in hand with Mother Nature and let her guide us forward. She can teach us how to listen, empathise, slow down and nurture each other.