Everything has a spirit – from the slow and simple spirit of a pebble, perhaps, to the angry bit of war spirit darting from someone’s eyes, to the hidden wisdom of our personal spirit helpers, to the unbounded embrace of the spirit of the universe. Everything that is, is alive.
In the course of our everyday lives, there are spirits who belong with us and some who don’t. As we make our way through daily life, it is helpful to be aware of the ways we may pick up spiritual intrusions, which are neither bad nor good, but which impact our well-being, our health, and the energy we have to put into all that is important in our life.
We are biologically social beings – herd animals (or part of a pack, if that is more appealing), who rely on each other for safety and survival. When there is danger,
the herd sounds the alarm, and when the danger passes, the herd sounds the all-clear. So we are wired to respond to the spoken and energetic messages from others. Words take on the spirit of a blessing or a curse, and it is easy for us to take it all in. Similarly, we respond to non-spoken vibrations of all kinds, and we take that in, too. People, objects, situations, and even the land itself carry spiritual power from what has been experienced in the past. This may create discomfort, or it may bring us bliss and personal healing power. We may even find ourselves carrying the spirit of trauma or wounding that happened to our ancestors many generations past, and we may feel the impact of it even though the cause is long gone and has nothing to do with us. And in our present lives, there are those – even those who love us – who would give us their anxiety and their responsibility for the challenges they encounter in their life.
As my good friend and teacher used to say, “Fear is contagious… and so is maturity.” All spiritual aspects of life are “contagious;” we are all one.
Fortunately, we have many, many pathways to clearing intrusions and freeing our own spirit to help solve the challenging problems we all share as members of humanity on our planet Earth. When we speak our “no” and then speak our “yes” and self-define our values and path in the presence of those around us, we help heal others even as we heal ourselves. When we live with generosity, compassion, and loving kindness toward others, those gifts are given back to us in kind. In time, we are able to stand in our own ground with clarity, regardless of our circumstances or the sticky burdens of others, and we find we have full energy for what is put before us. This doesn’t come in a miracle, blessing, or flash of light, but in a process of growth called “life.” As we dream our own soul into existence, it dreams us, until we can go forward with self-determination and curiosity instead of fear into the world.