The Journey Evolved

A long time ago, I read a book called Introvert Power. It was bold yellow and thick with a lot to say—a whole rich depth of love for self and humanity that prior was not mainstream-valued nor seen. The wisdom kept hidden there, in all of us, was dormant, malnourished, and stunted in growth, but not anymore. Most obvious to me, out here in North Carolina along the Outter Banks shore and through the beautiful state of Virginia, is that introvert power—really that deeply-rooted wisdom, love, and full-fluid acceptance that starts from within—has become a true leading energy in the overall healing of our world.

“When you learn to embrace the inner mystic and welcome the message that water brings you, your mind-body channels open and you find yourself in the universal flow of the life force. This becomes a practice, never to be taken for granted or to be misused for purposes of the ego. It becomes a sacred relationship between you and the water.” (Ritual As Remedy by Mara Branscombe). I almost left out the portion of that quote that refers to the ego, because we all do need to know and love the whole of ourselves—ego power included—but like the tides that peak and then center gravitationally lower and more fully again as the ocean, we do learn that there is more to gain each time we return to the full of our personal waters. It is there that all our learnings, insecurities, and confidences that were heightened, released, and expanded in the air discover the spiritual depth to become more intimate and unconditional. We have the space to give others space, the space to let our intuition and knowings grow, and also the space to realize the larger collective ocean evolving too that we are all a part of.

So, how can ego mess it up? Well, honestly, there isn’t much room where it can, as all healers are also all waves, and through every reintegration back to our larger self, we bring back with us too the gems of wisdom attained in our reachings toward the sky. When I understand you, it’s because I learned how to understand me. When I give both our minds room to breathe, let thoughts pass as clouds, and also too hold onto moments and memories, cherishing the best, it’s because that’s the way I love and allow my mind. Introverts—that is, people who always naturally felt most comfortable and at home alone—have really steeped anew the whole of humanity’s waters. There is a love that is non-sexual, yet non-interrupting too to the relationships in this world that are lovingly sexual. There is a love that has been building, self-reflecting, and evolving this whole time that now is just quite simply normal and apparent in the majority. It’s like the human world before was just barely making it, throwing up sails on a boat composed of shaky bones, scared of the waters beneath. We were taught as kids that drinking alcohol was the way, low-cut shirts and eyeliner just what girls do, and hiding your feelings right because no one will understand. In the old world, we were just getting by, and now not only are we self-worth and wholesome empowered—we’re actually living.

Here in North Carolina, you will not find a boardwalk full of cigarette smoke, carnival games, and people lurking in dark corners with drugs and alcohol. Instead, you will find individual pathways and wooden steps leading out to the shell-adorned beach of the Atlantic Ocean. Isn’t it funny how this sort of privacy and simultaneous openness to the mystery we always knew was abundant in the natural world is what we introverts always deep down really craved? It’s like the ocean came to us and washed away, through our healing, all those flaky crappy parts of the human world that only covered up and made worse our original hurts and wounds, and now here we stand, fully in our healed power.

A budget at home and the preciousness of time, for example, makes eating my brought breakfast ingredients in the gorgeous balconied hotel room with Scrat the obvious choice over the lobby room free breakfast. On the flip side, money well-spent becomes internal wealth inside as I slow down to eat a bowl of tofu, herbs, and pho noodle soup from a culture I quickly realize was vegan long before me. A few paw print steps up someone else’s beach stairway, but not too far up to intrude, becomes a resting place for me and Scrat to take in the ocean. And then of course, a family and a golden age golden retriever, reminding us all how much love is forever in our puppy-dog hearts.

You lead me, and I’ll lead you. Scrat turns thirteen tomorrow—thirteen years young—and that “young” part is because we love both ourselves and our shared journey in this healing life.