Why, yes, those are two separate audio links – one below, one above. My reading of the essay is right before the opening “Hi friends”👇🏾. And that’s a guided meditation at the very top of the email 👆🏾 (here’s an archive of meditations).
🌙 MAKE SACRED SPACE 🌙
There’s one more round of Make Sacred Space in 2024! This is a Sunday evening co-creative gathering where we attune to the Moon through guided meditation, journaling prompts, and open space — all for a soulful start to the week. Sign up for the November sessions here.
Listen to me read this essay:
Hi friends
I hope you’re continuing to find ways for staying grounded and centered. There’s so much chaos currently circulating, it’s easy to become confused. Over these past months, I’ve been somewhat unsure about where to put my energy and efforts — both to address the challenges in my own life and in this hurting world. Which cancer doctor do I choose, what healing modalities do I prioritize, phone or text banking, where do I donate, vegan or goat butter, what sources can I trust, how do I listen more deeply to my intuition, JUAT is going on!?! Feeling out of balance kicks up my patterns of reactivity, those that impact how I am with others and how I behave when no one’s watching. I really do try my best to cultivate personal practices that support my well being. Also, I sometimes-often choose things that most definitely increase the imbalances. I know I need massive amounts of time alone to feel well; and I may have once again over-committed myself heading into the season where that’s certainly out of sync with nature’s many cues to slow my roll. I am no longer on social media; and I am quickly getting sucked into Substack’s Notes feature and all the activity of everyone and their influencer-mama joining this platform.
I’ve been reminding myself of two things: 1) war derives from the Frankish-German word werra, which means confusion and 2) creative and reactive are the same word, the “c” just moves. While agitation can absolutely be a natural response to all that swirls within and around me, I don’t want to habituate my mind/heart/body to dysregulation. I aspire not to confusion but to curiosity, calm, clarity, contemplation, connection, courage, compassion, consciousness…
There are meditators or writers (or fill in the blank with anything that requires practice…) who who have unbroken multi–week/month/year streaks of commitment. The technical term for that kind of person is “annoying.” It’s taken me years to learn to spot my unhelpful patterns and choose better options. Except, sometimes I don’t. Still, I continually recommit to healthy practice patterns while recognizing (and here’s the key for me) that they’re always evolving — because, duh: I, like everything else in the universe, am always evolving too. This is pattern plotting.
Pattern plotting is a term I’m borrowing from designer Bhagvati Khalsa that describes how, if we pay close attention, visual patterns we usually ignore can be witnessed all around us. Similarly, I can learn to spot my persistent habits that normally go unseen. With practice, I witness patterns within me that are tangled and tight. Once plotted, I gently un-weave and reorder them. In beauty.
Last weekend, during the third Meditation Party (as predicted, the best one yet… and we’ll be back next October), I declared my renewed devotion to the classical teachings on mindfulness. [Even if mindfulness is a misnomer, which is why I will alternate it with awareness.] Many people use meditation and mindfulness interchangeably. But while meditation supports the development of mindfulness, mindfulness is not always a meditation. Mindfulness is the capacity (another “c” word). Meditation is a practice. Practicing mindfulness requires more than simply paying attention with our minds. Mindfulness names the innate ability we all have to bring awareness to the mental/emotional/physical experiences within and around us, to understand our habits and choices in relation to these experiences, and to move through life with more wisdom and kindness. When I commit to this this awareness, I prioritize not only formal meditation, but all the practices that support my conscious and clear understanding of what is needed in any moment. For me, this includes: plenty of solitude, deep study, movement/dance, journaling/writing, time in nature, art making, and all my mystical-witchy ways. These require practice. Likewise, practice requires practice.
It’s a never ending process of pattern plotting and practice plotting or plotting practice, pattern plotting.
I prefer that pattern plotting and practice plotting not be vigilant and obsessive, and more like spotting figures in clouds or watching the changing shadows in a sunny room. Plotting feels most fruitful when I’m most relaxed. In formal practice, this may feel like the gentle rhythm of relaxing my awareness back into the breath or body whenever I’m distracted by thoughts. In my life, it may be like going to my journal instead of into more scrolling through news stories when a podcast mentions a particular astrological transit while I happen to be mutlitasking listening to one thing while simultaneously looking at other things (just an example, not saying I would ever do this). Plotting is not plodding. It feels more fluid, a way of ease.
On my way up to Rhinebeck last Friday, I was contemplating what I would share in the evening opening session. I considered the above creative/reactive formula I discovered many years ago while journaling. At that time, I noted the “c” but I did not pay attention to the “r” – but, of course, it moves as well. I thought to myself, “What happens to the reactive when it makes way for all those c’s?”
Maybe it becomes relaxed, receptive, reflective… ready to respond to whatever is needed in this moment… or this one.
With love,
Sebene
P.S. I’m a presenter for Bouncing Back from a Broken Heart. I don’t usually do online summits, but my friends at Omega are co-hosting and I felt I actually have something unique to offer given my recent divorce and subsequent revelations around coupling vs couple-DOM. My conversation with Lynne was lovely. We explored everything from childhood patterns to astrology to healthy boundaries. You can learn more and register for free here.
Related Posts
The final round of Make Sacred Space for 2024 is in November!
In this Sunday evening co-creative gathering, we attune to the Moon through guided meditation, journaling prompts, and open space — all for a soulful start to the week. Sign up for November sessions here.
🌑🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑
What people say about Make Sacred Space:
I really love this Sunday evening time for nourishment and expression. I look forward to continuing!
I really love Make Sacred Space. The work you put into the music, themes, quotes and prompts is very much appreciated. I treasure the full half hour of mostly silent meditation and your well-placed skillful guidance. It’s nice to set aside some time at the start of each week in the company of spiritual friends.
This offering is very meaningful to me as it has given me time to hold sacredly for myself as I prepare to enter a new week.
I don’t know what to say. You are uncannily tapped into where I’m at every dang time!! Why are you such a genius? Your meditations are amazing/insightful. Your journaling prompts hit the nail on the head and get me thinking about things like “duh, of course I need to be thinking about this!” But I wouldn’t have myself. Your musical curation is on point. I love you. Your talent is beyond. Do more of these!
I really loved this space and am looking forward to more!
Thank you for this offering, Sebene, truly. The 7pm start time on a Sunday night was just right and I loved the combination of sitting, reflecting, and creating in a music-filled space with other quiet humans. I have to say the playlist is an unexpected bit of generosity.
🌕 Plotting Practice, Pattern Plotting