ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?

Just about everywhere you turn today you can see, hear or read advice about honoring your spirit, about making a soul connection. Great minds have wrestled over exactly what your spirit or soul is. Some believe it is that intangible essence that sets us apart from all other life on this planet, while others believe that life itself is indicative of the existence of a spirit – many cultures, both ancient and contemporary speak of the spirit of animals, plantss, water and rocks.

What if we think of the nature of these things? It is in a squirrel's nature to gather food (it would seem mostly from my bird feeders!). It is in a river's nature to flow from its source to its mouth. It is the nature of plants and trees to grow toward the sunlight, and it a rock's nature to be still. As humans, though, our unique individuality accounts for as many different interpretations of what is in our nature as there are stars in the sky.

How then, do you honor your own spirit and connect to your soul?

Have you ever become oblivious to the passage of time - so wrapped up in what you're doing that several hours can pass in seeming minutes? If yes, more than likely you were engaged in some pastime or activity that enabled your thoughts, emotions and perceptions to transcend the ordinary, to take you out of your mind and into your spirit. You are connected by fulfilling what it is your nature to do.

Often as we try to find our place in the middle years, we find ourselves rethinking our own nature. What if the years of being daughter, wife and mother took us along different paths than we would have chosen if left to our own natural instincts? Sometimes we feel our nature to be so deeply buried it seems impossible to unearth it. It’s there. You only need follow the clues.

Start by making a list of the things that comfort and restore you; the activities that take your mind away from everyday concerns, like walking along the shoreline or watching the sun rise or set. Maybe drawing, painting, or other creative work soothes you. Perhaps vigorous hiking or rock climbing lets you leave the world behind. Whatever transports you to those moments of flow, does so by tapping into your spirit.

What if sipping a cup of your favorite tea in your just-cleaned kitchen comforts and satisfies you? How is that a clue to your nature? Well it depends on what is most satisfying? Do you relish your moment in solitude, or is it better if you’ve invited a friend to join you? Are you more comfortable because you feel a sense of accomplishment having finished your tasks, or because the space you’re in is clutter free? The answers to these questions may tell you that you are a solitary creature or a social butterfly, an industrious worker-bee or a minimalist by nature. The more you can identify patterns in the details of what comforts you, the more you can incorporate those aspects into all areas of your life.

When you were a little girl you invited your best friend to come out and play by doing the things you knew she would enjoy. This summer, remember what it was like to be a little girl, and invite your spirit to come and play with you.