There is a universal stream. We know we are riding the current when things fall into place. We know we are swimming upstream when our effort begins to cost us – when we are tight, rigid, and weary to the bone. When we feel like we’re fighting just to keep our heads above water. This is not to say that if we go with the current, that everything will be easy and effortless. We are still required to use paddle and rudder to avoid bramble and rock. Sometimes the stream is a white water river and keeping in the flow does require effort – but that effort is matched with an excited energy rather than a depleted energy – we’re in the flow, but we’re definitely having the ride of our lives!
Oftentimes, we have belief systems, old ways of being in relationship to others and the world we live in that keep us from relaxing into the current. Our fear and rigidness make us stone-like and hard to keep afloat. Going with the flow requires nothing less than complete surrender. We have a passion, an impulse, but we surrender that to the will of the Something Greater, understanding that we cannot always see the big picture.
I once lived in a house that had a cottonwood tree in the backyard. I would sit on the deck in May when the cottonwood released itself from the tree, barely able to breathe because the air was so thick with its gossamer seeds. I would watch the cotton fluffs ride the air currents, absolutely amazed at the many circular, seemingly erratic currents that existed just above me. Going with the flow doesn’t necessarily mean our current won’t conflict with another person’s current. Like the air currents, there are millions of streams coalescing, colliding, combining in their own larger pattern. All that matters is that we ride our own current, we surrender, we lay down the sword, and pick up the paddle. May you enjoy the ride, friends.
Sabrina Santa Clara
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