Anam Cara - Going Beyond The Good

In Corrogue I receive a gift of love.

I awake to find a gift in my email inbox this morning. It is a quote from part of a poem. This is a poem by Mary Oliver entitled "Wild Geese." Let me share this extract with you. I find it simply beautiful.

"You do not have to be good
You do not have to walk on your knees
or a hundred miles through
the dessert repenting.
You only have to let the
soft animal of your body love
what it does."

I am learning to allow the soft animal of this body to love what it does.

This means entering into deeper and deeper trusting. It is a return to allowing the wisdom in the body to be conscious and to play. This is the way that children live. As Divine beings they do not have to be good but only let the soft animal of their bodies do what they do. This is their dance of life. It is their dance before they learn to stumble into the life of the ego.

There is a joy in such allowing. It allows the well spring of your being to surface. This is a form of magic. It is a form of unity. It is good only because "it is". It is not judged or labelled but simply allowed to flow and do what it does.

You do not have to be good.

Here the poet goes beyond judgement. She is telling you that you only need "to be." Nothing more is required of you. You are, she says, "OK." Here is a poet who knows. Here is a poet who graces you her knowing. She is telling you that you only need allow love to do what it does. This is wisdom. It is wisdom that comes from a trusting heart.

In this rush into the noise and haste of the 21st Century many of us are on our knees. We are walking but each of us carries a limp. Many of us are more than one hundred miles into the dessert. This is the desert of our unknowing. This is walking in the desert of separateness from "all that is."

We walk blindly when we do not know who we are and why we are. We can live all our lives asleep in armoured bodies that defend us against our true reality. If we lose contact with our soul work we are already lost in the desert. This is primarily the desert of social consciousness. Too many travel this dessert without ever getting a glimpse of the beauty they are.

Yet there is freedom.

We can, as the title of the poem suggests, be "Wild Geese." We can take wing. We can be warriors and take flight from the limitation of our social consciousness. To do so we need to enter our wildness. This is the wildness of our hearts imagination. This wildness is different from the wilderness of "never enough." This is the wilderness we lock ourselves into each day. We need to be wild and authorise our life and destiny. We need to quest and ask our own questions.

It seems, according to the latest health forecasts, that more and more of us are headed for a life of emptiness.

Forecasts conducted in the UK suggest that by 2015 the main disease afflicting the population will be depression. In my opinion this is an epidemic due to the loss of soul. It is the loss of feeling for life. This happens when there is felt little or no purpose in even living the limitation we call "our life." This suggests to me that we know there is something not quite right. We know in our heart of hearts that there is something missing.

You have been betrayed.

The title of this poem by Mary Oliver is "Wild Geese." In Ireland the term "Wild Geese" is a symbol of betrayal. "The Flight of the Wild Geese" refers to the time when the Chieftains of Ireland fled the land to go to other shores. We too are left. We too have been betrayed. We have been taught to betray "our being enough." Each of us needs to reclaim our birthright of joy and step into that other room that is our essential self.

A step on the way to this essential self is to allow the soft animal of your body to do what it does. It has its own "inner telling sense." It is amazing. It knows in ways the ego has forgotten. It moves us beyond what we term commonsense. Allow some softness in the body. Allow yourself to trust more the movement of the energy through your body. Learn to become the dance of this soft animal of your body.

Each morning when you wake up become aware of this soft animal of your body.

Just lie in bed. Learn to scan your body consciously without judgment. Feel each muscle nerve and sinew. Breathe deeply and slowly and when you are finished say, "Thank you." For the first ten minutes of the day be in love with this soft animal of your body. If you do not love it then it is more difficult to love totally. It is more difficult to be the dance of Eros.

This exercise goes along way to helping prevent dis-ease and despondency. It raises the vibratory rate of this soft animal of your body. You can begin to feel those good vibrations. You begin to feel fine and refined. This is a simple exercise in allowing your body "to be" and for you "to be" in this body that your soul has gifted to you.

Remember you do not have to be good. You only have to wake to the wondrous being your already are. This includes being aware of your body and allow it to be the holy instrument it is. Remember that the best you can do is let go and Let God. Just let it be.

Tony Cuckson is an Anam Cara. This Celtic term means "Soul Friend." He specializes in providing insight for the spiritual journey, Blessings for YOU, words of wisdom and finding inner peace. Visitors to Irish Blessings Matter website and Tony's Blog get the opportunity to develop a purpose driven life through articles, newsletters and other programs.

Get your free report called "7 ways to it's a wonderful life" at http://www.irishblessingsmatter.com/, or go to Tony`s Blog at http://www.irishblessingsmatter.info/ where you will find links to information related to spiritual parenting, spiritual coaching and spirit in business.

In The News:

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/movies/388695_fuel21q.htmlcid=1272678800ei=kF4mSeX-H6bU6gOCwcVJusg=AFQjCNGfaH2rsGB5-J5Eqe0YVr65aTHDOAimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=GBkXt4icemIJimgurl=seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/20081121/450wh_fueldirector21.jpg width=80 height=53 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Seattle Post Intelligencer/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/movies/388695_fuel21q.htmlcid=1272678800ei=kF4mSeX-H6bU6gOCwcVJusg=AFQjCNGfaH2rsGB5-J5Eqe0YVr65aTHDOAPractical and binspirational/b, #39;Fuel#39; faces the facts of the energy b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fSeattle Post Intelligencernbsp;-/font nobr10 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By SEAN AXMAKER The rallying cry of director/activist Joshua Tickell#39;s quot;Fuelquot; is not as catchy as quot;Save the cheerleader, save the world,quot; but it is b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2008/nov/21/3-inspirational-books-in-time-for-holidays/cid=0ei=kF4mSeX-H6bU6gOCwcVJusg=AFQjCNFc5CT0jFPc6ghkIOyaPSADUXCvLA3 binspirational/b books in time for holidays/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fSan Angelo Standard Times,nbsp;txnbsp;-/font nobr2 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Both are billed as binspirational/b gift books for all ages, especially teens and young adults, and both are filled with upbeat quotations from a variety of b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2008/11/a_look_at_the_top_10_inspirati.htmlcid=1272456151ei=kF4mSeX-H6bU6gOCwcVJusg=AFQjCNGMsRVS1XWCJL3FWasmH7JV9c47yQimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=vu3u2hnmd9EJimgurl=blog.lehighvalleylive.com/movies_impact/2008/11/large_Titans.jpg width=80 height=52 alt= border=1brfont size=-2The Express Times - LehighValleyLive.com/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2008/11/a_look_at_the_top_10_inspirati.htmlcid=1272456151ei=kF4mSeX-H6bU6gOCwcVJusg=AFQjCNGMsRVS1XWCJL3FWasmH7JV9c47yQA look at the top 10 binspirational/b sports movies/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fThe Express Times - LehighValleyLive.com,nbsp;PAnbsp;-/font nobrNov 19, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1It#39;s one of the top ten binspirational/b sports movies of all time. Not so long ago I came across something on the Beliefnet.com Web site about binspirational/b b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/entertainment/index.ssf%3F/base/living-0/1227157523319260.xml%26coll%3D3cid=1272456151ei=kF4mSeX-H6bU6gOCwcVJusg=AFQjCNFKnIAZcz9xPinD_y_4wI29E9gxLQSingling out some binspirational/b sports movies, from #39;Titans#39; and b.../b/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Express Times - LehighValleyLive.com/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1272456151hl=ennobrall 2 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/10/09/2008.leaders/cid=0ei=kF4mSeX-H6bU6gOCwcVJusg=AFQjCNE1hgupsMcbxYu1rqqma4kyMlgBpAWho was the most binspirational/b leader featured in 2008?/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fCNN Internationalnbsp;-/font nobrNov 19, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By Mike Steere LONDON, England (CNN) -- Who do you feel has been the most binspirational/b leader featured on The Spirit Of in 2008? Who is your pick? b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/New-Inspirational-Celebrity-Talk-Show/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257BC5B46962-908E-4F32-A174-0659EC9FE095%257Dcid=1271966138ei=kF4mSeX-H6bU6gOCwcVJusg=AFQjCNFZx4BmDjvWRR9Xih1Dbq2VPF833gNew bInspirational/b Celebrity Talk-Show, quot;Before the Big Break b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMarketWatchnbsp;-/font nobrNov 18, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1NEW YORK, Nov 18, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Right now, if you go to www.BeforeTheBigBreak.com, you can watch an exclusive interview with the Hollywood b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/entertainment/index.ssf%3F/base/living-0/1227157526319260.xml%26coll%3D3cid=0ei=kF4mSeX-H6bU6gOCwcVJusg=AFQjCNGwDlllVthBqHK041529uyEj-fdnQmore binspirational/b sports movies/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fThe Express Times - LehighValleyLive.com,nbsp;PAnbsp;-/font nobrNov 19, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Anyone who was ever told they were too short, too small, not smart enough, not pretty enough or not anything enough gets a chance at redemption in this b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php%3Fid%3D414387cid=0ei=kF4mSeX-H6bU6gOCwcVJusg=AFQjCNEFIU28X_MebxuWMMDC0J5r6GKN3AbInspirational/b Christian author to sign book in Davenport/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fQuad-Cities Online,nbsp;ILnbsp;-/font nobrNov 19, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Author Linda Louise, of Kalona, Iowa, has been awarded the “Best Christian Woman’s bInspirational/b” in 2008 by ChristianStoryTeller.com for her book titled b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Above-Victim-Mentality-New-Inspirational/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257B2B109CFC-5E0F-4E8C-A915-0468BA47CFC9%257Dcid=1271888278ei=kF4mSeX-H6bU6gOCwcVJusg=AFQjCNFcJ2KMsaYSkbRSpjRZ7tKArysnXQAbove the Victim Mentality -- New bInspirational/b Memoir About the b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMarketWatchnbsp;-/font nobrNov 18, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1ARLINGTON, Va., Nov 18, 2008 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- For determined and highly motivated individuals, life#39;s obstacles are just challenges to be b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.wacotrib.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/communities/breakingnews/entries/2008/11/18/downtown_waco_inspirational_pi.htmlcid=1271921902ei=kF4mSeX-H6bU6gOCwcVJusg=AFQjCNEr-60nkUdo458kPjuPDxJZD3RWwwDowntown Waco #39;binspirational/b piece#39; to show at 3 pm council meeting/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fWaco Tribune Herald,nbsp;TXnbsp;-/font nobrNov 18, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1“It’s an binspirational/b piece,” City Manager Larry Groth said of the video, which he thinks will be a useful recruiting tool for businesses and developers b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.bonnersprings.com/news/2008/nov/20/bravettes-barnes-receives-all-kaw-valley-league-no/cid=1272372059ei=kF4mSeX-H6bU6gOCwcVJusg=AFQjCNEuQE8UZCcLNBEtKbMaoYsf9DBuaQBravettes’ Barnes receives All-Kaw Valley League nod/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fBonner Springs Chieftain,nbsp; USAnbsp;-/font nobrNov 19, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1For the freshman team, Bobbi Allred was named the best defensive player, Erin Marx was the best offensive player, Emily Wilson earned the most binspirational/b b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table
inspirational - Google News

Vistas

The other day I found myself frustrated with the slow... Read More

How To Have An Effortless Life

Isn't that an appealing title? How to Have an Effortless... Read More

Energy Work Basics Part 1: So What is Energy?

Everything is made of energy. Atoms, molecules, light, sound and... Read More

How Healing The Past Empowers Your Future

Everyday I meet people who have a chronic upset that... Read More

Just Say, I Love You to Those Who are...

Life is beautiful and lovable with the type of people... Read More

What an Artist Experiences When Working With the Angels

I am an Angel artist on a passionate spiritual journey... Read More

Essential Oils and Aromatherapy: Raise Your Frequency with These Divine Gifts

The volatile essences of aromatic plants contain potent, complex, natural... Read More

Leaving The Child Behind. Recovery From Child Abuse

I looked at my father for the last time before... Read More

Principles That Govern My Life

The strength and durability of a building is found in... Read More

The Serpents Genesis 1 and 2

Not long after the beginning a being fell from the... Read More

When Failure is a Gift

I wanted, for many many years, to be a mystery... Read More

Garbage In Its Place

There is nothing worse than seeing garbage blowing down the... Read More

Overcoming Fear of Terrorism

This week I did a radical thing. I bought a... Read More

Psychic Sponge Syndrome: The Easy Inner-Centrifuge Remedy

Here's a nifty trick to use to clear yourself of... Read More

Food for Thought

We all love picnics. They represent a fun time as... Read More

The Dead

Direct Answers - Column for the week of February 9,... Read More

Body Acceptance: The Secret to Weight Loss Success

Can we love our bodies? As the years go by,... Read More

Re-Developing Your Vision

One of the most important things we can do for... Read More

A Life of Purposes Extraction

Purpose. What is purpose? Drinking coffee when you wake up... Read More

When Self-Growth becomes Self-Sabotage

Many of us invest quality time and energy into our... Read More

A Bad Move

Direct Answers - Column for the week of April 7,... Read More

The Power Of A Dream - Success Always Start Off With A Dream

Back in the good old days of school, the teachers... Read More

If You Were an Angel... What Would You Do?

If you were an Angel what could you do to... Read More

How To Turn Your Life Around FAST!

There is nothing more important than feeling good.Come again? Didn't... Read More

Those Who Sleep Get Sliced

Chang lived in Flushing, Queens. Every afternoon he rode the... Read More