How my coffee pot taught me about Right Livelihood

How my coffee pot taught me about Right Livelihood

Another dark spring morning.

                I have cut branches of winter jasmine in my kitchen above my sink, the scent is heady and luscious. It is a promise and a delight. Outside, the neighbourhood is still asleep, all will be quiet on this misty Sunday morning until late into the morning.

                I put my expresso maker on the stove but to my infinite consternation, the coffee sprays out through  the seal on the bottom and all the coffee has leaked out and burned on the stove. I thought maybe I had put the seal in wrongly. I re-made the coffee and much to my annoyance I had to grind coffee again and wake up my beloved. Again, the coffee out onto the stove. I removed the pot with towels, I burned my fingers. No, it wasn’t the seal. Now I was really frustrated.

                Later, I looked at the pot again and wondered if the problem was elsewhere, not the seal, but the air hole at the upper part of the espresso maker. I soaked and rinsed it out, little coffee granules came floating out.  I realise that the air hole was plugged and the coffee couldn’t rise up into the upper chamber, but was forced to stay in the bottom and had it leaked rather than explode.

                My third attempt at making espresso this morning, I stood by the stove and suddenly wondered-this was an unusual event. What should I notice about this event? I glanced inside the coffee pot to see if the air duct was cleared. Coffee bubbled nicely into the upper container. Then I notice how the migraine which I’d had for the past three days was almost gone but I could still feel a slight tightness in my throat, just like the coffee pot. At my most vulnerable part, I had been blocked. I was holding on for fear. Old programing, old unresolved memories were closing down my throat chakra.

                I develop headaches because when I am stressed because I clinch up my throat chakra in an unconscious act of defense. After many hours, my brain starts to register the closed circuits as a crisis and  my body compensates by releasing hormones that open up the arteries to the brain.  But then there is too much blood in the brain and that triggers a migraine. Much like the expresso maker, I had my throat (coffee channel) plugged and my energy was getting blocked.    

           

                I have been really struggling with a decision about where to work and I realised, not for the first time, that I have to go forward, I can’t go back. I can’t return to institutions because of the financial security that they offer. I struggle with these systems because I don’t fit there. I don’t belong because I don't not share the same world view, I have evolved beyond where most of those people are. Not to sound arrogant, I just need to be clear with myself so I can clearly choose my direction.

                When I noticed how the world had presented me a metaphor of all that was problematic in my life right not, it became like a dream or a story. All the information was there-my problem, how it developed, how to overcome it. The language I used to describe the event was rich in meaning- leaked, annoyed, sleepy neighbours , the connection with my migraines. The more I consider all the little events, I understood in a flash how they reflected what is happening in my soul. Once I understood the relationship between the espresso pot and the hard choices I was making about my livelihood, it all made sense.  I rinsed out the coffee pot, it took a few rinses, and then made another cup. I stretched my back and rolled my shoulders in anticipation of the posting I would write this morning.

Try This!

1.            Notice something unusual that has happened in the past week, or even today. One event that stands out. Remember it can also involve machines-they are also present in this great net of being and co-create the world in their own way. E.g. for the last two days my expresso maker hasn’t been working.

2.            Notice the details of the event, not the feelings or inner perceptions that you had about the event, just the outward observations E.g. the expresso pot didn’t work three times, the coffee leaking out, split onto the stove, making a mess and being wasted.

3.            Now think about how you solve or re-solved the situation, again just the facts ‘mam. No interpretations at this point.

4.            Each of these extraordinary events will pose both a question or conflict and also will reveal the solution. You have only to notice and use the principles of World Metaphoric Transformation. Then you can become your own teacher, counsellor and guide.

5.            What event is it reflecting? Where else in your life is this happening? What aspect of your life is exactly like this one? Take the first thing that comes to mind, don’t try to edit. Your first response will probably be the most truthful.

6.            Now see that when you examine the rest of the event you will see that the solution is also present in this soul catching. E.g. I cleaned out the coffee pot air hole and then tried again. The cleaning out of the air hole is reflecting that I have some old beliefs that are clogging up my system, and causing headaches and also confusing my sense of my life’s path.

7.            Once you caught your soul with the world message, then record your wisdom in some embodied way. You could journal, draw, dance and most important, commit to some action. This make the important link between insight and action.

8.            Smile, the wold is holding you gently in Her hands. Feel the security of how you are breathing, how the environment is protecting and guiding you. All is well.