inspiration

Inner and Outer Authority

by

Awhile ago I came across a blog, Who’s in Charge Here?  It’s incredibly funny.  All you have to do is pick the leader in a group of band members.  And we all know there is one.

It reminded me of this photo of a group of policemen in Venice.  Guess who’s in charge here?

Outer authority serves a purpose.  Good leaders make good decisions on behalf of the group.   They are trusted.

But sometimes we put more emphasis on the outside authority other than the inside.  We feel certain groups and people have it all together and we hand our power over to them.

Turn the outside inside.  Real power is your inner power.  Do you trust it?  Do you read the signs?

I’m a big fan of synchronicty.  Synchronicity is kind of like a hiker’s helper.  Hiker’s helpers are little piles of rocks that hikers look for when they get lost.  They are put there by other hikers to help guide your way.

Synchronicity in Action

I started toying around with this inner and outer authority idea awhile ago.  The way I usually put together posts is in my head.  And sometimes I get hiker’s helpers along the way.

The other day I was over at Hunter Nuttal’s reading a post of his.  In this post he was offering a free ebook by Steve Martile called the Genius Within You.  I thought, sounds cool.  Sixteen pages and it’s free.  So I went over to Steve’s.  He has a site called Freedom Education.  What a great name for a site.  Reminds me of that song by Cat Stevens, “Peace Train.”

I started reading the book.  My mouth fell open.  Exactly the same thoughts I was having expressed in a different way!  And I great book, I might add.  Read it!

So I thanked Steve and promptly told him I would just have to link to this.  It was synchronicity.  It was uncanny.

Back to Hunter’s.  Perusing his posts I notice he has an article on synchronicity.  Another hiker’s helper.  I knew I was on the right path.  Thanks Hunter!

Sure, you could call it chance, you can call it silly crap.  But the point is it made sense to me.  It was my inner authority recognizing the signs.   So sometimes it is a good idea to keep these little things a secret.  Why give your power away?

But I wanted to write a blog post.

The moral of the story?  Focus on your inner authority and look for signs in the outer world to support your inner journey.  You’ll always be on the right path.

Update:  Steve was on a train when he had the epiphany to name his company Freedom Education.  I found this out after I wrote the post and mentioned the name of his company reminded me of the Cat Steven’s song “Peace Train.”  More synchronicity!  Hint: You can find it in his video…

Photocredit: © Ellen Wilson

What are You Fishing for?

by

Everyone comes to blogging for a different reason.

Maybe you’re tired of the mom grind, and want to share with other moms.  Being a stay at home mom is lonely. So you see other bloggers doing it, but think to your self, nah, I can’t be a problogger, it will be like blogging without a blog for me.

Then you get this big bright bulb over your head and realize you could start an itty biz!  Something little of course, you tell yourself, but something that could grow. Because you are sick and tired of eating macaroni and peas and scraping pennies.  I mean really, wouldn’t a juicy steak be nice?  Or maybe something from the deep friar, like one of those organic sandwiches filled with plaintains.

Secretly though, you have always wanted to write for Hollywood, and wish Steven Spielberg would call you up and ask if your laptop is for hire.  But this is not delusional, you think, because you have had one of life’s little inspirations and just know your words for hire are better than the crap that is currently playing in theatres.  Besides, Steven Spielberg’s birthday is just one day after yours, and you notice many great directors are Sagittarians.  And you realize it’s high time for more women to be great directors.

After carefully perusing templates, you give yourself a design interval of six weeks.  That should be all it takes, you think, because puntuality rules!

Soon, your blog blinks and is awake.  And now that it is up and running you find yourself writing forward into the golden zen of the blogging world.

I dedicate this post to the muse Melissa.

Photocredit: © Ellen Wilson

The Magic Forest

by

When I was young, like I am now, I used to go to the woods and see if I could see something magical.  I wanted to see a gnome, dwarf, or wiccan witch.  I was convinced, and still am, that these creatures can be found right behind a sycamore tree or under a morel mushroom.

Robert Graves wrote in his classic book, The White Goddess, that the Irish no longer believed in fairies after compulsory schooling became commonplace.

And similarly, The Romance of Lancelot du Lac spoke of the fairy queen in another incarnation as Lady of the Lake:

“The damsel who carried Lancelot to the Lake was a fay, and in those times all those women were called fays who had to do with enchantments and charms – and there were many of them then, principally in Great Britain – and knew the power and virtues of words of stones, and of herbs  Their knights were forbidden to speak their names, for fear of of betraying them to Christian persecutors.”

Barbara G. Walker

The Women’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets

Lost 

Stand still.  The trees ahead and bushes beside you

Are not lost.  Wherever you are is called Here,

And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,

Must ask permission to know it and be known.

The forest breathes.  Listen.  It answers,

I have made this place around you.

If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.

No two trees are the same to Raven.

No two branches are the same to Wren.

If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,

You are surely lost. Stand still.  The forest knows

Where you are.  You must let it find you.

David Wagoner

So.  Where do you find your magic? 

Photocredit:  © Ellen Wilson