Doing yard work today reminded me of Kali, recovery, relationships, and my coaching program.
As I was almost savagely cutting and clearing brush away from the gravel driveway where I am staying in Surry, I thought of the chant that our singing circle sister and yoga teacher Rebecca Rose taught us many years ago in praise of Mother Kali, the Hindu goddess with tremendous creative/destructive powers:
Om Kali, Kali, Kali
Om namo.
Om Kali, Kali, Kali
Om namo.
Burn it all away,
burn it all away.
If it does not serve you,
then burn it all away.
I reflected on how these plants, bushes and trees I was cutting back and clearing are not needed here now. Some have needed to be cut out a long time ago but, instead, have taken root and grown strong–like some of my old patterns of thinking and behavior, habits and people. “Stinking thinking” like I’m not good enough or smart enough or attractive or successful. In Twelve Step programs, there is a metaphor about peeling the layers of the onion. Once you take off the top layer, you find more and more layers beneath. Oh, no. More shit to deal with! Stripping away to discover your core addiction, perhaps.
So, too, with my clippers on the driveway. Cutting and clearing some of the plants revealed more weeds and trees to deal with, even more to cut out and clear away. It also opened up the grass to more light. Breath, sun, clarity. . . .Freedom within the discipline of the cutting away all that does not serve me anymore.
I went on a cross-country adventure to clear away those old patterns, relationships, attitudes that do not serve me anymore. And in the process I found myself again. Along the way, I studied helpful techniques through a coaching program with Mary Morrissey of Life Mastery Institute. And I connected to my intuition [big cheer from my friends] and strengthened relationships to my Higher Self and Higher Power. Found the Divine dwelling all over this beautiful country. Fell in love again. . .with Mother Nature. . .and came back to find love, truth, and the goddess right here, hidden under a bush in Surry, Maine.
So, get out there with your clippers and chainsaws, my sisters and brothers! And call me, your Kali coach, when you need help cutting and clearing. I have the tools you need.
