The Miracle is You

I’m just back from a hike that morphed into a spontaneous nature ritual and I’m so excited to share this experience with you!

Yes, I remember that just last week I said I was going to take a break from writing. I was resisting my self-imposed obligation to show up here weekly. Once I freed myself from my own rules, the Muse returned.

And today, she is downright chatty!

I went for my usual walk this morning but took a detour because of a ferociously barking dog and the resulting traffic jam of people avoiding it. So I found myself on a different “beach” by the creek and voila! The urge to release the burdens I’ve been wittingly and unwittingly carrying descended.

I collected several fallen leaves as symbolic representations of the pain of my body, mind, heart, family, and community. One by one I dropped them in the water, watching as they swirled along the rocks, eventually merging into the current.

There was still more to be shed. Several rocks caught my eye, and I collected them for part two of this ritual that was unfolding in real time. I placed a different challenge into each stone with my voice, piling them together, and surrendering the entire lot to the earth.

Then I climbed up on a big, slippery rock at the water’s edge and released my prayer to the sky. It was time to call in what I desired.

May I be nourished. May I be supported. May I be guided. May I be protected.

A white-headed bird swept by (was it an eagle?!) too fast for me to properly see, but it felt like it grabbed my prayers to take them wherever they needed to go.

As I was beginning the journey back home, I asked for a miracle, proclaiming my readiness and willingness to receive one. I also asked to recognize this miracle when it arrives, cuz who hasn’t thrown away a good thing while lacking the clarity to see its magic?

I have a complicated relationship with the book, A Course in Miracles . I’ve bought and discarded it several times. One of the things that keeps me coming back, however, is the definition of a miracle being a change in perception, a healing of the mind.

When the way we look at things changes, the things we look at change. I believe that’s a paraphrase of one of the late Dr. Wayne Dyer’s teachings.

I’m now climbing up the hill intentionally embodying my miracle-mindedness when a message breaks through.

You’re the miracle. The miracle is you.

What?!

Then I was shown what a miracle it is that I’ve come so far from where I began, a fragmented and shut down girl who had no idea who she was. And a reminder that all those challenges and difficulties were necessary to bring me to where I am and to give me the means to reassemble myself. That the current challenges and difficulties are just that for the next phase and I would one day be grateful for them.

That the nourishment, support, guidance, and protection is all within me already, and all I need do is allow it to emerge.

That this situation is not unique to me, but the reality for all of us, only we’re often too busy chasing salvation on the outside that we don’t always see it.

So I’ll leave you with this epiphany to chew on.

The miracle is you! You have unique gifts within you that are much needed. Your presence makes this world a better place.

Just as I was led to use the leaves and the rocks to unleash a deep healing without knowing that’s what I was doing, so too will you be lead to your own healing.

You might need to step out of your comfort zone and be willing to look silly speaking to the creek and the sky, but that’s a small price to pay for treasure that awaits.

So let’s get started, shall we? Be the miracle that only you can be.