It’s snowing heavily in the Northeast today, the snow piling up as each hour passes, covering the remnants of last week’s storm, beautifying the world in a way that only snow can do. But what lies beneath that thick coating of winter white? Everything that is present throughout the year is still there, though it is hidden, unseen and so also unknown, in a sense. The psyche can work like a snowstorm at times, hiding from us the truth of what lies at our core, protecting us and even tricking us into thinking otherwise. When the psyche rescues us or protects us in this manner we can become so used to its covert operations that we end up relying on it when, in fact, it may be doing us a disservice, causing harm rather than keeping us safe. One day we may wake up and realize that it has been snowing for far too long and that it is finally time to dig ourselves out of our blizzardy ways, out of the muffling drifts, the cold coverings that have kept us from truly knowing our deeper issues, our truths, and our honest selves.
At times of such awakenings, as we sweep and shovel our way to the inner self that lies frozen, as the earth now lies frozen, we discover that beneath the cold outer covering we are soft and vulnerable, pliable and alive. It may take some probing, but eventually we discover that we have long buried feelings, that we are sensitive beings needing attention. It may be revealed that we are indeed seeking a means of evolving beyond the state we have existed in for so long.
Recapitulation is one means of carefully removing the layers of snow, the protection that we have used so successfully to keep us going. Recapitulation helps us to understand how we have survived the worst of the blizzard, how we have remained alive in spite of our long-term frozen state. Recapitulation, when fully embraced as a means of self-discovery is a process of scraping away the snow and ice that have kept us safe, but also kept us from fully living, from fully experiencing our true selves and all that life itself offers. During the process of recapitulation we may actually discover more about ourselves than we have ever really known or imagined we could know. We may find that we are truly a mysterious, unknown being full of surprises and wonder.
Beneath the heavy cold snow lies the frozen earth, and within the frozen earth lie the seeds of life to come. We are the same way. We too have seeds buried deeply inside us that are just waiting to be discovered. In undertaking a process of recapitulation, we offer ourselves access to not only our deeper selves but all the potential that lies within that deeper self, the potential that will not have access to life if we do not dig deep enough to uncover it. If we can allow ourselves to dig deeply enough so that we discover these seeds of opportunity, greeting them with light and nurturance, we offer ourselves access to far greater life on earth than if we continue to ignore them or pretend they don’t exist.
And what if we choose to leave them alone, to not to take an inner journey? That is our personal choice, but to be fair to the inner self it seems only right to make that decision in full awareness that we are choosing to leave those seeds untouched. Is it not far better to know of their existence and determine that we are not ready to unearth them in this lifetime, to be that truthful with ourselves, knowing that in another lifetime we will return to deal with them again? Can we do this and be okay with this choice? Will our spirit let us make this decision?
I believe that our spirit may let us go along with this decision for a while, letting us get comfortable with being in control, but then it will make attempts to jolt us. It will find ways to make us face the fact that we have these seeds of true life, natural life within us, seeds that are just waiting to germinate and grow. Just as nature waits so patiently for spring to come, so do the seeds of new life within us wait for the opportunity to sprout.
Our spirit is like nature in that way. It will return like the seasons, attempting to wake us up to our true potential, to warm us with awareness and offer us the light we need to see into our darkness. But I also believe that modern humanity has come so far from nature, so far from how truly close we are to the natural world that we have lost our connection to our own natures, our own cyclical awakenings, our own innate, instinctual natures. We have relied on other means of perceiving and valuing life, but really we are as natural as the earth.
In this winter season we may lie covered in snow too, but keep in mind that spring will come, it always does. The sun will shine, it will melt the snow and the truth of all that lies buried under it, right now, will be revealed. It is then that we will be confronted with the process of recapitulation, when we can no longer deny the facts that lie at our feet. And the real truth is that we don’t have to wait for spring to come.
We can become our own natural force of discovery. We can elect to acknowledge that we have indeed led frozen lives far from our true natures, and we can accept the stirrings of our spirit now, rather than wait for the natural disasters that are sure to come to shake us up. Recapitulation offers us the opportunity to become one with ourselves, our natural selves, flowing with and allowing nature to guide us, to show us the way to true alignment with the greater self.
As I have been writing this blog nature has been showing me how its natural course is in alignment with my intent to keep growing and expressing what I have learned. The world is changing as I write. The snow still falls, but less heavily. The sun has poked out a few times, the squirrels are running through the trees in the backyard, the birds are landing on the stark winter branches of the trees knocking snow to the ground. Life, nature, never stops; even though it may seem to be smothered and asleep, it is in fact very much alive, just as we are.
Nature is eternal and so are we, but just how energetically and deeply alive we decide to be is up to us. Our spirits reflect this eternal aliveness, letting us know that we are fully capable of awakening to our true selves, at any time. Do we dare to align with the natural self, the spirit, the body, the innate memory self who knows full well just how real and alive to be? There is more life available than meets the eye.
What is your spirit trying to tell you today? Look to nature and then look to the natural self where all the answers lie, within. In alignment with your spirit, throw your intent out to the universe and watch it present in nature, as it guides you through recapitulation to uncover your deepest truths and riches.
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Sending you all love and good wishes,
Jan