Only When it’s Dark Enough Can We See the Stars
During the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday here in the States, I listened to one of his speeches. One of the lines from that speech was “Only when it is dark enough can we see the stars.” King was speaking to the sanitation workers in Memphis who were on strike. He was reminding everyone to remember that the darkness is not real. That it is a passage to the Light. King was shot the next morning.
Only when it is dark enough can we see the stars. We can also call the darkness the desert, which is the archetypal metaphor for the spiritual seeker and the heroic journey—-being in the desert.
When we are in the desert we feel totally disconnected from the depth of life, the depth of us. Our heart, our sense of love and connection to the world and to our body and to our Being seems beyond reach. Yet, being in a state of disconnection is inevitable. It is part of our experience. Jesus and Buddha brought on this kind of suffering to themselves in order to understand and realize that that was not who they were. We suffer when we are in the desert of our life. When there is seemingly no vitality, or purpose, or anything that feels important enough to propel us through the day. We go through the motions. We look at what others are doing and decide that we should be like them. We admire the happiness of others yet if we slow down and tune in we are disconnected from the source of our own. Our ground of Being feels gone.
In our world, it can be hard to trust your own journey when you are in the desert or darkness. This is the moment the ego wants you to turn to the next shiny object. Thus, we have people striving to BE ‘somebody’ by promoting themselves in ways that are not aligned with the life they actually live. There are experts who’ve never actually lived the thing they are experts in. There are best-selling authors who have simply been part of a one-day Amazon ratings feast. There’s a striving to ‘be somebody’. But when we strive to ‘be somebody’ we forget that who we are is already deep within us as is all the direction we will ever need. When you commit to your Soul, to embodying your divine purpose, you must learn to be in the desert and wait.
When you are in the darkness of your life, rather than letting the distraction and pull of the external world numb your feelings of suffering, stop. Be still. Slow down.
This is the opposite of what your ego will want you to do. It is not easy. It is a practice.
The first key to Finding Your Voice is Slowing Down.
You see your voice is the expression of your Imprisoned Splendor—the Light you are here to shine so others can see their own.
Your job is to align with it, which requires slowing down at the very moment your mind tries to distract you to buy into some external solution to your darkness.
I ask you to experiment with this lesson. Slow down. Actually, stop when you are in the darkness or the desert of your life. See what happens when you do this.
You will have the opportunity to learn this first key of slowing down in depth at the Find Your Voice Kripalu Retreat March 2-4. It’s hard to understand the power of slowing down until you get support for doing so. When we come together with a group intention, the support is multiplied. You can read more about this retreat and register by clicking this link. CLICK HERE
Because the retreat is at Kripalu, you can experience morning yoga before we begin our sessions. Your body will be tuned to the inner realm already. Our work of Finding Your Voice and Standing Behind It will be supported by the surroundings. Thus, the huge benefit of gathering at this place for our work of Finding Your Voice. Can’t wait to see you there! Here’ that link again: HERE.
