Staying Open-the 'What's In it For me?' Deal

Sometimes, the hardest thing you will ever be faced with is the demand that organic life places upon us all to remain open. A closed womb can accept no seed, nor bear any life.

It comes naturally to us- to be open. It's inherent in our nature, but as we go along in life, various thing can occur and we can get our fingers burnt, our hearts bruised, our hopes smashed and our dreams broken.

It's right about then that you REALLY need to stay open. Ok...maybe I should I.

Taking a Leaf out of Nature's book...or maybe a trunk

I love, absolutely LOVE, visual metaphor. One of my "favouritist" places is a chunk of Rainforest atop Burleigh Head, and when I go there with my camera, I am truly in another world. I lose myself so completely,so effortlessly and oh, so blissfully. I see 'into' things, 'beyond' things and 'through' things...and all these 'things' I see whisper back truths of ancient knowing that only creatures like trees and seas can know.

I see myself. A timely insight. I know it's just what I need, because it is the message that comes.

I looked at this trunk and the hole into the hollow of its core. I pondered whether this was a 'good' or 'bad' thing. An open wound or a functioning orifice. It was a clean opening. It didn't look 'broken'. I'm sure many living creatures had ventured in and found shelter as needed. How did it serve the tree, other than allow the tree the serve others?

As is frequently the case, judgement on a matter is often relative. This gaping hole, apparently organic in every way, still looked odd in its own right, but 'normal' in light of what was beside it.

Now, this hole, although 'whole' in that it was closed over, like an old, scarred wound...this hole didn't look 'good' to my eye. It looked like the other hole, gone wrong.

It looked like an opening that no longer wanted to be open and had to work contrary to its organic way to shut down.

It looked gnarled, twisted, tormented and well barricaded, from within and deformed. What happened here?

I stood there, meserized, much to the surprise of passers-by, I'm sure! Switching from opening to the other, and 'feeling' more than hearing what they spoke to me.

In light of my morning meditation, today, this set of photos seems to speak even more clearly to me. The clear opening was vulnerable-all its guts exposed and accessible, and I'm almost certain there'd be things inside that tree that had no place being there, pushed in thoughtlessly, carelessly. Even so, I'm equally sure that the creatures that made a home in there, would have found resourceful ways to recycle that stuff too! Because that is what ORGANIC LIFE does.

Even with abuse, this hole stayed open, clean, functional, non scarred and life nurturing.

The Second hole had the appearance of one that had 'taken offence' to being treated that way, shutting down to the abuse, but at what cost? It lost the capacity to be of certain use in shutting down to the possibility of abuse. Not only was it not able to 'serve' others through its life, it became all mangled in its own form. I relate to the second hole as being ruled by the "what's in it for me?" question, and in not finding a desirable answer, decided it would have none of it!

ALL ONE LOVE ENERGY FIELD

And here's the interesting part...these holes are right beside each other, part of the same

tree trunk. We are all ONE! We are all connected. My guts are YOUR guts. When I shut down to you, I shut down to ME. When I shelter you, I am safe. When I leave you in the cold, I am alienated. Whatever I see in you, is but my own reflection-whether beauty or fear,love or judgement.

My heart is like the hole in the tree. It has undergone many piercings, and suffered several breaches, but if I close it down, I cannot function at all.The wind cannot breathe its song through me ( and I live for the Song of the Wind reverberating through my being!), nor the sparrow lay its young, and I so delight in the freshness of new life .

NOt only that, but ALL That Is knows how to make GOOD of all the abuse as well-using it resourcefully to benefit others maigically.

In a shut down place, I cannot even sleep without nightmares-ever afraid of forced or uninvited entry, further distorting my authentic nature with fear, through resistance to phantoms!

Staying open is about turning the "what's in it for me?' into "YOU are what's in it for me". To see You grow, expand, thrive, LIVE...that's what's in it for me. To deny you access to my heart, to all that I am is to deny myself. And I just can't live that way.

How does the hole serve the tree, but to allow it to serve others? How does my heart serve the WHOLE but to allow its LOVE to serve others through me? I would rather DIE than shut down, because in physical death I expand into all. I would rather DIE than stop believing I can be all I desire in this life through enriching the lives of others.

I don't want to TAKE. I don't want to EXTRACT under duress, peoples' favour, money, time, faith.I want to give...and in giving, receive rare and beautiful treasures of every kind.

I refuse to compete. I choose to create. I allow myself to be an incubator of life, and with all that I am I desire to remain ever open to love and be loved.

So, yeah...that's where my head is today. Please don't interpret this as being about going through life with nothing...it is exactly the opposite!

Lisa :-)

You KNOW I could turn this into a kids' story!

I even wonder if the second hole only developed because the first one shut down. This is what the abundant Universe does. This fantastic giving Universe just makes more wherever it's needed. If one shuts down, another opens...but that's another story!