In the same way that a plant turns towards the sun light, we as humans have a natural disposition to reach out to what makes us whole. Being a person who is guided by inner knowing, I am often guided in strange directions. Only to find that the sun just hadn’t risen over the hill which I am climbing. The direction looks dark yet my arms and feet are pulling me in that direction, I never know why until the sun comes up.
Having just left San Francisco for New York, the sun is rising up in my rear view mirror of hind sight and I am able to start to see what it was all about. A rite of passage.
Rites of passage are more expected when you are a teenager going into adulthood, but a rite of passage can come at anytime. They are the mini shifts towards enlightenment and sometimes you need a bigger shift. During a rite of passage you have to die to everything you were before to be reborn. In tribal cultures that would mean being removed from your tribe, or in my case ‘London’, letting go of everything that you identify yourself with, in my case, my house and all my stuff and then you come back to the tribe with a special boon for that tribe, I guess that’s the new work!
In order to really shift we need to find a safe container for ourselves to face our shadow in a supportive environment. For me that was my cohort at California institute of integral studies. The school acted like a ritual elder to give a luminal experience. The cohort allowed me to express my light and shadow without judgement.
Open up to another level of our human potential and shedding what has held us back is a vital part of our growth. Sadly in the western culture we are often forced to do this alone. Running away to weekend workshop, retreats and seminars never telling those people who are close to us the transformation we are going through, as expanding our consciousness is still considered odd even now. Not having a supportive community gives is a luminod level of growth. We feel we are not allowed to bring the gifts back to the tribe and unless we grow with others are growth feels redundant.
If you are feeling your leaves are reaching for the sunlight in the darkness, find someone who can act as a non judgmental catalyst to aid your growth. We know what we need to make us whole, the body reaches for it, and we just need to allow ourselves to move with support. It is out rite of passage to stay in health and alive.