Dreaming From the Labyrinth
Updated: Nov 23, 2021
I stopped by the Labyrinth near the Mercer Museum in Doylestown today. It is a beautiful path; well designed and well built. From the moment you begin, you see exactly where you will end up, but the actual journey is filled with unexpected twists and turns. The path loops and curls upon itself so that at the very moment you think you are at the center you suddenly find yourself heading a totally different direction.
It occurred to me as I wandered that this is the perfect metaphor for my life right now.
Even though I know the dream I want to get to, I seem to keep getting twisted around on my way there. One moment I’m heading straight to where I want to go and then, oops!, I’m suddenly veering off in another direction. I keep moving forward trusting that I will swing back around at some point and head toward the goal again. After a few meandering steps I see it in sight for a moment before the next turn takes me off again. It’s a little disorienting and frustrating. Aren’t I taking the right steps? Aren’t I working hard every day to get to my dream? What’s going on?
Does this feel familiar? On some level 2020 has thrown us all for a loop. Many of us are struggling to accomplish the basics right now. Somewhere between Covid, politics, racial issues, and the murder hornets we lost track of where we were heading. Many people I talk to feel like they are spinning their wheels but getting nowhere fast. Typical challenges seem like insurmountable mountains. Mundane things can derail us. It feels like everything we try to do runs up against some limit somewhere. Goals blink into view and then slip away again.
I wish I could give you some deep explanation of what is going on, but I’m not going to try. All I can say is that even on an energy level things are pretty mixed up. Every energy worker I talk to can feel it. The world is shifting. A lot of tough stuff is coming to the surface to be dealt with. Energy is clearing. Healing is happening. It feels unsettled and uncomfortable right now, but this is not an entirely bad thing.
This is a great time to step back and think about your dreams. Before 2020 were you really working on becoming the person you were meant to be, or were you just chasing what you thought was the best thing? Were you following your joy to find the place where you can bring the most love to this world? Were you working on your own stuff and searching for healing? If not, maybe it is time to reconsider your dreams and set some new goals to send you in a better direction.
If you feel confident about where you were going before 2020 knocked you down, you may now feel that your goals are far off and unreachable. Did you lose your bearing in the mess of this year? Are you hitting barriers when you try to make progress? Is it hard to find time and brain space to deal with your needs right now? Are you having trouble finding joy? Do you feel like you're stuck in a time warp, walking around in circles with no way out?
You aren’t in a box or a pit or a black hole. You are in a labyrinth. You know where you are trying to go, you just have no idea what the path will look like to get there. Sometimes you see the end and sometimes you don’t. Either way, you know exactly what to do.
Look in front of you and take the next step.
That’s it. That’s all you can do. Fortunately, it is also the only thing you need to do.
Get up each morning and take the next step. Don’t spend your day standing in one spot. Please don’t turn around and walk the wrong way. Just look at your feet and follow the path to the next step you have to take. Your goal may seem miles away, but if you keep following the labyrinth you will get there. A labyrinth is not a maze. You cannot get lost. The path may be twisty, but it will get you to the dream at the center and back out again. All you have to do is keep walking.
I’m not sure where my goals got buried in this mixed-up year, but I know my dream is still out there and still attainable. I believe the labyrinth is taking me toward it even though I don’t know where I am right now. My joys haven’t changed, so I will continue to follow them as I become more of who I am supposed to be. I will try not to get frustrated when the center of the labyrinth slips from view over and over again. I’ll keep dreaming of where I’m headed while also faithfully walking toward it every day.
So let’s all admit that even though 2020 has been rough, it’s just a dark and meandering part of the labyrinth. If we get up every morning and take that next right step we will find the way out. We don't need to be stressed by the twists and turns. Even if we take five tiny steps today, we are five tiny steps closer to the goal hiding within the pattern. Even with all that feels restricting right now, the next step is always available and waiting for us to take.
How do you know what the next right step is? That’s the tough part. It will look different for each and every one of us. The right step, though, always brings more love into the world and helps you become the person you are meant to be. So when looking at the options of how to spend your day, see which meet these criteria. Watching the news for two hours and stressing about all the crazy stuff going on? I don’t see how that brings more love or helps you become who you are meant to be. What about calling someone you haven’t talked to in a while? Definitely that brings love to someone and depending on what you talk about it might help you become more you at the same time. What about washing dishes with one of your kids? Can you make that into an exercise of love and of helping you both become more of who you are supposed to be? Even these small and seemingly insignificant steps provide opportunities to work toward who you want to be in the world and to bring more love into the here and now. If your goal seems far away and hard to get to, start with the everyday decisions that change you slowly into the person who will someday find the dream at the heart of the labyrinth.
Are you so stuck that you aren’t even sure what your next step is? Here are some places to start. Just try any one of these and that forward momentum, no matter how tiny, will start moving you through the labyrinth again. Even if you don’t know what your dream is yet, doing these things will help you bring love to the world and become more of who you are supposed to be. Remember, one step at a time is all you need to take.
Do something that brings you joy every day.
Get exercise.
Call someone and tell them you love them.
Start working on your own healing- physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual.
Meditate.
Blast away from limiting beliefs.
Break away from your fear by saying, “Please heal my fear-based thoughts.”
Start practicing energy work.
This blog will give you ideas for all these things. You can also contact me if you want to talk more specifically about anything. Or just wing it and go out on your own.
I know that some days it feels like we are living in a time warp and the bright shiny future we all want doesn’t feel any closer. It does exist out there somewhere, but there is no straight path to get to it. We simply need to keep dreaming of it as we take one step at a time through the labyrinth. Only in that way will we all make it through.
#everythingisenergy #energywork #healing #selflove #lifecoach #harmoniousrenewal #findjoy #unstuck #positivechange