Ordinary-Extra

shamanism story

A gift traveled with me as I awoke this morning, the reminder that the extra-ordinary arises out of the ordinary. My instinct tells me, in this technological age, that profound life changes come from the most exciting, stimulating places. My reflexes drive me away from the location where real transformation waits, in the now.
I’ve been going through some tremendous healing lately. Almost nightly as I dream, my heart is being mended and remade. Scabs I never thought would come off, turn to dust as I rise for morning chores. This has been going on for weeks now, I don’t want it to stop. Ever.
I’ve been following threads of caring, thats been the spirits message to me. I just have to allow caring to come forth, and my life will take the shape it needs to. This homework has given birth to a deeply nourishing fullness that tumbles out of me. I’m no saint, this feeling is not epic like Mother Theresa or Ghandi. Its the grace that comes from the simple attention paid to making breakfast or cleaning up after a project on the land.
My son and I grinned at each other with excitement as thunder rolled overhead at about 8am. We never get thunder here, especially at this time of year. Its his first day of school, we were on our way out to the car when the excitement overtook us. No days are ordinary here. My world is over-run with ripeness.

Workbench of Caring

My first act of caring, my homework assignment ten days ago, was to build a workbench. In a journey the spirits told me that if I wanted to achieve my greatest dreams I needed to ground in caring. I immediately thought of epic adventures in heroism. They reminded me of the simple caring needed in my daily life.
I’d been putting off building a small box to house our router. Our internet connection is cellular based, we have a wifi router positioned up on the land to get the best signal. I’ve outfitted our newest router with outdoor antenni, I just needed to protect the main component from the rain.
Picking up the caring of that thread led to building the workbench I’ve needed ever since we’ve arrived here. I’ve no real stable, flat place to work. It was a pleasure to build. Shortly after its completion I was able to turn out a waterproof custom made router box from scrap wood in no time. It just passed its test, the mornings thunder dumped heavy rain on us.
Its fitting that something as seemingly ordinary as a workbench should be the stage for this transformative caring work. My grandfather was a shop teacher, my Dad had a well used workbench in our basement. Dad and I rarely met there as peacefully as I would have liked. His spirit haunts my healing, lending a compassionate hand when needed. This ordinary furnishing cuts across generations and through the worlds.
A workbench is also a cauldron of conjuring. Here is where I will make things both practical, magical and magical practical. It is my invitation to the extra-ordinary, to continue its romance with my heart. I promise to slow down, breath, pay attention and very simply – to care.

Here’s hoping this day tumbles you in its hands gently, awakening magic for you.

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