What The Eclipse Taught Me About Faith

The week before the eclipse life felt tense, unsettled, frustrating. Curiously, the eclipse seemed to clear the air!

So why not use it as a reset?

Because, more than anything, this eclipse experience reminded me to have faith.

What is faith?

Faith is a decision to believe in something you cannot verify.

For me, it's an act of letting go of fear, of control, of a desired outcome, and relaxing into a space of grace, of knowing that all is well, that I am safe and life is good.

I’d heard about the eclipse for months but had blown it off until a few weeks ago when my husband was eager to go. Since we waited so long to make plans, the closest motel we could find was 3 hours from the path of totality in Oregon.

We decided to book it anyway and drive from Washington on Monday morning as far south as we could get.

As Monday grew closer, reports about the number of people descending on Oregon circulated. The governor had called up the National Guard. It would be a traffic nightmare.

Then we heard no one was allowed to watch from the side of the road. Now where would we go? None of this helped my anxiety.

Getting ready on Sunday morning for our 36-hour road trip. I sat to meditate and got a gentle reminder. It was a voice I often hear, kind, wise and loving.

It said, “Relax. Everything always works out perfectly.”

Up until that moment, my entire week had been emotional, angsty, difficult so it was the exact reminder I needed.

Driving east, we encountered no traffic and decided to stop and walk around a picturesque mountain lake before heading into town.

That night at the motel, I got confirmation from an Oregon rancher I’d contacted that we could park on his land. Relieved that we had a destination and wouldn’t be hassled by police, we left early Monday morning, hoping to make it all the way to totality.

Again there was no traffic.

In less than 3 hours, we arrived in time to enjoy the sun rise over the high desert, the smell of Juniper in the breeze.

Before I knew it, the eclipse began.

A quick hour passed and then came the 90 seconds of totality. The temperature dropped, the sky darkened to resemble twilight. The sun was a ball of white wavy lines dancing and swirling around the shadow of the moon. It was nothing I’d imagined.

And then it was over.

The bright sun and warmth returned and soon and we were on our way home, ambling along small highways and by-ways, following rivers and canyons. In the afternoon, we crested Mt Rainier and stopped to take in the Cascade range, the fields of wild flowers and the snowy glacier.

Even though it took 9 hours, it was an absolute joy ride.

Back at home, feeling refreshed and renewed, I’m reminded to have faith.

Like me, use the eclipse as a reset.

Remember that everything is possible when you bring to mind 3 things:

1. Relax

When you relax, it stops the mind whir.

It cancels out anxiety.

It brings you back to the breath. And you come into the moment.

2. Affirm that everything always turns out perfectly

When I start to get anxiety about a situation- be it financial, professional or logistical- one of the ways I deal with those negative feelings and mind chatter is to look at the past.

Whenever I have dealt with a similar situation it has easily been resolved.

~My bills always get paid.

~I consistently arrive at my destination safely.

~I’ve successfully done (a similar task) in the past.

Simply because this is a“new” situation does not mean it will be any different.

3. Go for It

This is the reminder to do whatever it is that you’re afraid to do

-with confidence

-with eyes wide open

-with certainty that the outcome is assured

Usually what happens is better than you even expected!

How does faith or lack of faith show up in your life?

Try using these 3 steps to help you move into the future with greater confidence, assurance and ease. Life certainly feels more exciting and vibrant when we jump in and stretch ourselves.

Let me know how it goes!

Or share your eclipse story with me and leave a comment below!

Like what you read?

Get more blogs like this & other tools for your personal development today!

Get Your Groove Back: 3 Easy Steps to Re-Awaken Creativity

Stuck in a rut?

Feel like you’re creative juices have dried up?

Let’s face it. This happens to ALL of us especially if you have a deadline or are starting a fresh, new project.

But here’s the great news. It’s actually pretty easy to fan that flame.

Check out these 3 ways to get going again:

1. Move

This is actually two ideas in one:

The first is to physically move your body.

Get out of that office chair, quit standing behind that easel and go for a walk.

Moving does a few things.

It oxygenates the body. It also frees your mind to begin free-associating. This can help you solve a problem or resolve an issue. Steve Jobs often walked when he wanted to think out a problem and frequently invited other people to go with him and brainstorm!

The second is to change locations.

Go and work somewhere else.

This is like magic for me.

Normally, I work at home but am just as likely as you to get stuck. When I feel this coming on, I go to a café, park bench or someplace where I can work undisturbed. 

Sometimes you just need a change of scenery.

2. Be inspired

Creativity can be jumpstarted by something you see, hear or read.

Exposing yourself to other ideas can act like a springboard and launch you into a new thought or way of seeing something.

Maybe you read a great article and it inspires a blog post or you see a cool sculpture at a gallery and it gets you thinking about how you could draw it. Magazines come in handy, too, for ideas about decorating, new clothing outfits or dinner menu ideas.

Ready to find inspiration?

Check out your local library for magazines, see what visual or performing arts shows are happening in your local area, browse Pinterest or Etsy for ideas. You can even google a topic (like creativity) and see what the search brings.

3. Collaborate

Sometimes if you’re really stuck, it helps to talk it out.

Call up a friend or colleague, explain what’s going on.

It can often be easier for an outside person to provide clarity than it is for you to cut through your own stuck-ness.

We can often be blind to the most obvious thing.

Share where you are and where you want to go. 

Sometimes just saying the words out loud brings the solution.

We are all creative. And we all fall into slumps. 

So the next time you need a little kick start, try these tips and see what happens!

AND be sure to let me know! Leave me a comment below or shoot me an email!

Ready for more great content like this in your email?

Sign up today.

What My Anxiety Taught Me About Love

It’s never easy when you come up against your ego.

Or to be more specific, when your shadow behavior is pointed out to you by someone you love and trust.

Recently I had a conversation with my husband in which he shared that over the past year I’d demonstrated more controlling behavior.

He gave a few specific examples, some I agreed with and others I wanted to immediately reject.

My insides squirmed listening to him.

I just wanted him to stop, to go away and leave me alone.

Didn’t he understand anything?

It wasn’t that I was being more controlling it was that I was finally coming in to my own, doing what I wanted as opposed to what other people were telling me to do.

I felt hurt and rejected. Because that’s the only way an ego can feel.

My husband was infinitely kind, loving and soft when he spoke to me but what I heard was, “You’re a controllingbit** and I don’t want to be with you.”

My ego had been bruised. I felt raw, almost like a frightened little child.

After our conversation, I slowly began to unpack it, trying to make meaning of his words and my reactions.

I realized that my initial response to the conversation was defense. “No. You’re wrong. This is really all about you. You don’t want me to take my power because then you’ll feel threatened.”

Perhaps some of that was true.

In relationships, we always have to be sensitive to power issues between partners.

However, being in a loving relationship, I knew his intention wasn’t to hurt me.

As I began to work through his words and, more importantly, my response to his words, I began to entertain the notion that he could (maybe) be correct. So I asked myself: “What if he’s right? What could your behavior be showing you?”

I realized that I was acting more uptight and clinging to control as a response to moving in a new direction.

In other words, because there was more uncertainty in one aspect of my life (career) it was triggering my anxiety. And I was compensating by trying to control other areas of my life, ones I could actually be in control of (my home life).

When I got to this level of understanding, I was ready to talk about it again.

I shared my new insight with my husband. And he heard me – listening quietly - and responded with love and compassion.

Within that context, my behavior made sense.

It wasn’t really that I wanted (or want) to control him or anyone, it’s just an automatic default setting my ego falls into when I come up against anxiety.

Then my husband went one step further. Thinking out loud, he wondered if what was really being triggered by this uncertainty was my core issue: abandonment.

Lots of us struggle with abandonment issues.

My mom left my sister and me when I was four years old. Although we saw her frequently and went to live with her six years later, that time was filled with upheaval. We moved so often that I went to five different schools. In my young mind, I became convinced that somehow it was all my fault and that I was not lovable.

I initially turned to food and ate to fill that void, the emptiness of undeserving.

After I released that, I filled it with people, activities, and by never letting really anyone in because then they could hurt me. I spent years yearning for love but being too afraid to actually open up to it.

In a way, it’s actually a loss of faith.

It’s my forgetting that I am safe and that the Universe loves and supports me. Instead, I fall into a fear reaction that drives me to do everything because no one can be trusted.

Over time my behaviors have changed and by deepening my spiritual practice, I now trust in God, in other people and in the Universe. And I know that I am loveable and loved.

This internal relaxing has allowed me to open up to new possibilities, to stretch myself emotionally and let love in even more.

Yet those of us on this spiritual path know that we move in a spiral direction.

We keep coming back around to the same issues over and over again. Only each time they get more subtle.

So I shouldn’t really be surprised that I'm facing my abandonment once again.

The old feeling that conjures up a scared little 4-year old girl.

In this turn in my road, I’m working on loving both the feeling as well as the frightened child.

Reminding her that she is safe and loved, that those old stories are just that, old and not real anymore.

As I embrace these aspects of myself and let love in, I know I am being healed.

Instead of rejecting my anxiety or my abandonment, my job right now is to love them and embrace them- these dark emotions that I don’t want to feel or acknowledge.

I bring them into my heart and relax.

Light and love come streaming in and I don’t have this frenzied or uptight need to control. It’s a relief in a way to be able to relax.

For me trust is the opposite of abandonment.

As I dissolve my old ties of abandonment, and let them go, I replace them with faith and trust. I breathe into my heart and know that I am loved, and that I am never alone, ever.

Curiously I came back to love through looking at my shadow behavior – my need to staunch my anxiety with control.

I’m grateful to have people in my life who love me enough to show me even what I don’t want to see. Because despite the pain of hearing the truth in that moment, the lesson it has taught me has been well worth it.

And I am the better for it.

What's your take? How do you respond to uncertainty?

Let's start a dialog. Leave your ideas below.