What’s in a name?

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For the last twelve or so years, my partner Sam and I have had two websites: ‘The Path of the Mystic’ is our American digital home, while ‘The Shamans Journey’ is our digital home in the Netherlands ~ although it started out as that part of our activities that hosted our products.

As time has moved on, different parts of our activities have moved to the foreground ~ even under different names. Yet, especially in the Netherlands, The Shamans Journey is still the ‘umbrella’ under which most of our activities find shelter.

And all this time, it has been regarded as exactly that.

But something seems to have shifted. Last weekend I was a vendor at the ‘Levenskunstbeurs’ in the small Dutch town of Driebergen ~ a big fair of which the name translates to the ‘The Art of Living Fair’. The name ‘The Shamans Journey’ was advertised; as it has been before with other fairs I have been to.
This time around, a lot of people came up to me asking about shamanism. What kind of shamanism we practice, what kind of shamanic journeys we take, and so on.

Now, shamanism is something that is very close to our hearts. For me, my greatest interest lies in how we can strengthen our bond with nature while living our day-to-day lives in our Western society ~ with all our obligations, not to mention living very close to our neighbors...

What was just as surprising to me, was that most people coming over to ask about shamanism, did not seem happy with this explanation. They apparently hoped to find a specific brand of classical shamanism, which although well known, has its roots in a different part of the world altogether...

It has made me wonder; what has given the name for our business which we have had for many years such a different ‘ring’ to it? Is it the energy of this point in time? Have we, unwittingly, changed our energies to such extend that it shows in the name? Are our current perspectives more suited to a more general public (even though they may not agree with our view on shamanism)? Or is it a message to us from the Universe, and if so, what does it tell us?

Another aspect to ponder is whether the same thing has happened to ‘The Path of the Mystic’...  And if so, how is it being viewed differently? What are the questions people may have about us and ‘The Path of the Mystic’ at this point in time?
Would it instigate similar questions on shamanic practices? Or would it spark questions on mysticism? And if the latter were the case, would it be about a specific mystical practice or belief?

Whichever way you look at it, it seems that the name and its energy have a lot more to them than meets the eye...
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The choices we have...

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There are a number of way we can look at the choices we have in life. There are choices that are clear, obvious, and can be a lot of fun (for instance where to go to on vacation). Then there are choices that have more repercussions (like moving or changing jobs). And then there are those instances that we feel we don’t have any choice in the matter at all. Where we feel stuck in a situation or a set of circumstances that we cannot influence, let alone solve, or move away from.

Now you may think that we can always move away from a situation if we truly don’t like it ~ and in a sense this is true. However, there are those situations where moving away from it brings a whole different set of circumstances about, that aren’t necessarily easier to deal with... For instance when caught in a job without any prospects, that is not interesting, that doesn’t pay well ~ in short, a job you really don’t desire to have ~ but you need this job to pay the bills, and you may feel unlikely to find another, better, more interesting job at the same or better pay in the area you live in.

All of a sudden, it seems there are no choices.
Or no ‘good’ choices, anyway...

And for all the theory on always having choices and making your decisions based on these choices in order to live a life full of purpose ~ here you are... Stuck between a rock and a hard place...

In a situation like this, a helpful exercise can be to think of five ways to improve on the situation you are in. In this example that could be for instance:
through education (prepare yourself for the job you desire)
through actively starting to look for another job anyway (at least you will set the energy into motion that there is something else out there that is better...)
through moving to a different area
through starting something you really enjoy doing next to your job (and if that would bring in an extra couple of $$, great!)
through counting your blessings and actively find things that are good about the job you have now (it brings a more positive energy to the existing situation)

Now, I’m not saying that any of these five choices are ‘good’ ones, but what you do with an exercise like this is that you do give yourself choices again! You put yourself in a position where you are actively involved in the situation.

And even if the situation doesn’t change immediately, listing five possible choices makes that you may not feel stuck in it anymore!
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Decisions ~ again

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As we have the opportunity to shape our lives with every decision we make, our awareness of the choices we have becomes more and more important. The more clearly we can see the choices we have in life, the more active we can be in shaping and molding our lives to match our desires...
And pretty soon our personal path is one that is productive and fulfilling.
Along with that, we become more and more aware of our spiritual path ~ our path of personal growth.

The key here is to be aware of the decisions we make based on the choices we have.

This means not only making the best decisions we can in the areas of our lives where the choices are obvious, but also to spend time looking at what choices we really have in those areas that are less obvious... And to take a look at the decisions we, one way or another, are not feeling comfortable about making just yet, the ‘non-decisions’.

It seems these non-decisions are most tricky as we start looking at actively shaping our lives, as there is a fine line between the point where waiting it out is the wise thing to do, and where not making a decision is stopping us in our movement forward...

One may say that when in doubt, do nothing and wait it out; wait until something happens that sheds light on the situation at hand. And a lot of times this may be the right thing to do.
On the other hand, one may be waiting forever, as this decision is crucial for taking the next step on the spiritual path, and as such a learning experience from a spiritual perspective.

When we find ourselves facing a non-decision, it is important to discover why we are not willing to make that particular decision at this point in time.
Is it because we feel overwhelmed? Because we have too much on our plate to come to a balanced perspective? It is because we are not fully aware of the choices we have? Or is it because of the ramifications we suspect this decision may have (it may be an unpopular decision, making people not like you anymore)?
Or is it because there seem to be several choices that could work out really well, and you are not quite certain yet which direction to take it? In this case, taking a little bit more time before you decide can be a good thing!

However, as long as we stay tuned to the choices we have, and actively make our decisions accordingly ~ the more actively we are shaping our lives and the more aware we will be of our personal paths.
Things don’t just happen to us anymore, we actually choose which direction to go every step of the way!
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Decisions

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As we as humanity have free will choice, at least from a spiritual perspective ~ there are a lot of decisions we have to make as we move along our personal paths. Almost every step we take is because of a decision we have made.

Therefore, decisions and how we make our decisions is important!

Some decisions are totally obvious like a decision to change jobs, to move, to take a vacation (and where to spend that vacation ~ just stay home, find a sunny beach, go for some adventure, or even to travel the world...)
The fact that these decisions are obvious, doesn’t mean that they are necessarily easy to make...
For instance, from the initial decision of wanting to change jobs ~ a lot of other decisions come up for us to look at; not to mention the fears and doubts that it can spark. Like ‘Am I good enough for this job I want’, or ‘If I get the job, do I need to move? And will I find a suitable house?’, or ‘Even though this is a job I always wanted to have, is its pay going to support me and the lifestyle I desire?’...

In order to make the one decision, we need to look at everything that is involved ~ including our fears and doubt about it ~ in order to come to a balanced perspective, and therefore a ‘wise decision’.
And pretty soon, the whole picture can become somewhat overwhelming, leading us to not make that decision right now. We will first see what happens, and then we will act accordingly.

And what has happened at that point is that instead of being the active force that leads us along our personal paths, we have become reactive. We have made the decision to not make a decision.
In itself that doesn’t automatically mean that this is a ‘bad decision’. In fact, it may be the best decision we can make at that point in our lives.

As long as we are aware that not making that decision, is a decision in its own right!
It is one of the ‘not so obvious decisions’ we make...

Other decisions along this line are those that we may not even view as being decisions as we may not be fully aware that we have a choice in the matter, like the things we have, from childhood on, always done a certain way, or things that are deeply imbedded in the culture we live in.
With these things, we first need to realize that we have choices, before we can make a decision about them.

All in all, the more we become aware of the choices we have, and make our decisions accordingly ~ the more we can purposely shape our lives...
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The Next Step...

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Life itself is a continuously moving, flowing experience. This means that it is up to us to keep moving with it ~ which leads to always being ready to take ‘the next step’.

This can be the next step in any process that is part of us; physically, mentally or spiritually. For instance, the next step on our personal path, the next step in our personal development (whether that is a realization, or signing up for a class), or the next step in a project.

Now, when I am looking at my personal path, at where I am headed ~ or maybe more accurately, where it is leading me ~ things are fuzzy at best! I have come to the conclusion that when I am ready to take another step, it works best for me to take a step in the direction that makes me most happy, and to not worry about how that is going to work out in my everyday life.

Taking mental steps, has a lot to do with realizations. To me at least, means letting go of things (the things I was taught, the attitudes that no longer serve me, perspectives that may have been valid some time ago, but that certainly have lost their ‘moment in the sun’) more often than acquiring things... Although every once in a while, I feel like signing up for a specific class ~ I am more likely to start sharing ideas and learn from the points of view others may have on the subject; to do my search on the internet, or to read a book about it.

Both the easiest as well as the hardest area to take the next step, is the physical world.
Here it really counts which direction we are moving, as choosing the ‘wrong’ direction can have enormous (even financial) consequences.

It is not always clear though what that ‘right direction’ is. Especially when we start taking an universal, or higher perspective into account. Is the right direction the one that makes most logical sense? Is the ‘wrong direction’ the one that may give most fun, but doesn’t seem to bring any obvious quantifiable benefit into our lives?

From our earthly, human perspective, the logical step most often seems to be the best ‘next step’. Yet from a universal perspective, we may have far better luck with the intuitive ‘next step’... Even when this means a project will be put on hold for a while ~ or even when that project will end there.

For the ‘perfect next step’, we may have to let go of our personal wants and desires, and focus more on what it is we, deep down inside, really need...
Chances are when we do that, we will find the next step that is not only our best action in the world, but it will be one that is being supported by the universe.
A true win-win experience!
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Time-lines

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There are a lot of things in life that are ‘ruled’ by time-lines.
‘This needs to be done first, before we can do that ~ and for that to be finished at a certain time, we need to start doing this no later than...’

For a lot of things in our lives this becomes a program, something we set up and follow because it works. Like setting the alarm clock at a certain time, because experience has taught that waking up at this time, will get you out the door in time to get to work.
The full time-line may look something like this: Alarm clock goes off ~ hit the snooze button ~ alarm clock goes off again ~ get up ~ feed the cats ~ take a shower ~ make coffee ~ get dressed ~ eat breakfast ~ put your plate in the sink ~ gather whatever you need to take with you ~ leave for work.

Now, some things in this time-line are more critical than others... In this case I would say getting dressed is an absolute must; whereas in a pinch, you could eat a sandwich on the road...

It gets interesting when time-lines are combined with multiple activities, or even with multitasking. All of a sudden there is not one time-line to keep in check; each activity has its own time-line, its own priorities. And as the activities are all happening more or less at the same time, their separate time-lines start interacting ~ and of all goes according to plan, the separate time-lines eventually become one time-line.

In this one time-line, we juggle the critical events of our multiple activities...

Some of us are better at doing this than others.
But even if we are good at multitasking ~ at some point the intricacies of the interwoven time-lines with their critical events can start causing a lot of stress in our lives. If we miss one critical event, something else can be pushed out in time, leaving us late to do yet another thing, and so on. And pretty soon our carefully orchestrated live with its multiple activities comes tumbling down.

Putting ourselves under this kind of stress because of an especially busy time in our lives turns out to be fairly common in the societies of today. And handling it is not that hard, as long as we see how we are closing in on reaching our goals.
It may become a problem, however, when it becomes a way of life.

If multitasking is ‘really our thing’, and we enjoy weaving the time-lines into a workable whole ~ than we should probably take on ‘taking time to smell the roses’ as one of our tasks!
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Privacy

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As our societies have become more individualized, we have come to put a greater value on privacy.

This brings with it a number of choices we have to make. The most obvious one seems to be what we want to share with the others, with the world around us ~ or in this time of easy world-wide communications, what we want to put out there ~ and what we want to keep to ourselves. A less apparent choice is how we present ourselves to the world around us; and is this who we are at the core of ourselves, or is this a more superficial reflection of our core selves?
And if we decide not so put our true self ‘out there’ for the world to see, does that mean that we are deliberately hiding things; being secretive ~ or are we just adapting to the level of interest the world around us is showing for us?

I guess all of us have things we consider ‘private’. These things may range from how we feel about situation or people, to the bottom line of our bank account statements...
And for most of us it is not about deliberately hiding things from others ~ it is more a sense that it is none of their business!
Truth be told, there are things, even things that are important to us, that the world around us couldn’t care less about. So why not keep it private?

Yet as the energies of this point in time are reaching an ever higher higher vibration, more and more people find that if they raise their awareness accordingly, they receive a lot more information about the world around them; and sometimes this information is very personal ~ it may even relate to another person’s deepest desires or secrets!
And while raising our awareness is a good thing, and a proper use of the energy of this day and age ~ it does bring up the privacy of yourself and others...

Questions as this starts happening are: ‘If you can see or sense this information about another person; should you?’. Does the fact that you have the ability to do so, mean that it is okay to pry into someone else’s life? Even when that other person is very close to you?

Or do you focus on different things when you find you become aware of information that is ‘none of your business’?

As our own spiritual development goes on, we may even get to a point where receiving that private information is not a matter of focus anymore, but something that is always there.
If this happens, what do we do with that information? After all, it may even be something the other person is thinking that relates to ourselves...
Do we act on it? Do we react to these impressions of another person’s private thoughts?

Or will we deliberately choose to allow others ~ and the world around us ~ their privacy?
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Acceptance

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To really accept things is hard.
Now, I don’t mean the grudging acknowledgement that there are things in life one cannot change, and therefore has to accept ~ rather the things one has to acknowledge and accept, in order to be able to change them.
And there are a lot of things we can change in our lives as long as we are willing to take an honest look at ourselves and the situation at hand ~ and observe things not from our emotions, but more from a factual perspective as to how we got where we are at.

After all, when we look at things based on our emotions, the way we see them often gets colored... We may be madly in love, and see the world through the proverbial ‘rose colored glasses’ ~ and therefore miss the fact that the object of our affection has a less desirable side as well. And those things don’t have to be ‘biggies’ or ‘dealbreakers’; it can be something like being grumpy in the morning. By the same token, we may feel wronged, as we are all happy, bright and alert in the morning; and react from a sense of ‘How dare they be angry at me...’ ~ where the intent never was to do anything negative or angry to us at all.

When we look at the world based on our emotions, we see the world from the perspectives of our past experiences and how we feel about these past experiences inside ourselves...

When we take a step back, and look at the facts of what is happening ~ we may see that when someone is not a ‘morning person’, it is best to allow him or her to wake up in their own rhythm, at their own pace... And we may find that ‘morning grumpiness’ never is a problem.

We have accepted that the other person being grumpy in the morning has nothing to do with us, is not aimed at us, has nothing to do with negative or angry intentions ~ and we adapt or change our perspective on it in such a way that there is no problem...

Something that is even harder to do than to accept situations outside ourselves, is to accept things inside ourselves. To accept who we really are...
And to do so, not from a negative or guilt induced perspective, but from a factual perspective...

This means that we accept our good side, as well as the things that we may want to improve upon ~ recognizing that the latter are the area’s where our personal growth may come from.

What, at least to me, is most difficult, is to accept that there are things that I may be really good at. Things that are special. Things that would make the world a better place if I would express them...
To accept that I can make a difference, and respect myself for it.

What a change true acceptance of Self can make!
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Our Greatest Achievements

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When I grew up, I had my goals set quite high. I wanted to make a difference on a national, if not global scale. I wasn’t sure how I would go about it; but I was certain it would have something to do with my creative expression of myself ~ and, in my mind, it might well be in the direction of creating very special pieces of jewelry!

That was many years ago, and looking at my life today, it is surprising how different, yet how similar my goals are compared to those long ago times...

I still want to impact the world, make it a better place for all of us. (Dreaming big? You bet ya!)
The idea of how to go about it to reach that goal is what has changed. Sure enough, I enjoy writing this blog and putting it out for the world to see. But the real impact I can have on the world lies a lot closer to home.

Making the world a better place to live in, really does start with oneself.
It is not enough to talk about it, it is necessary to create our own life in the image we wish the world to become... This means that if we want to bring peace into the world, we need to create peace in our personal lives ~ and the way to do that is to bring peace into our Selves, to be peaceful.
Doing that, even if it is just in our meditations, is an achievement!

Other very personal achievements are things like learning to stand up for oneself, finally deciding to take time to smell the roses every once in a while ~ or the fact that you have survived an extremely busy week.

And with the recognition of each of those (or similar) personal achievements, the acceptance of ourselves is enhanced. We gain a greater balance within ourselves.
From this greater personal balance, we can influence the world around us in a beneficial manner. Our personal balance will have a tendency to radiate from us and affect the people we meet...

For me, taking an effort to make the world a better place outside of myself, means to have a sincere interest in what is happening in the world. The greatest changes come from a kind word, a smile ~ and a genuine interest in those around you.

And I count the times that I have been successful in helping others ~ whether that happened because I ‘was at the right time at the right place’, or by appointment ~ as my greatest achievements.
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