What a wood pecker taught me about eating bugs

Once again, I begin this posting with no idea of where my soul in the world will take me.

This morning, looking out my window I notice a woodpecker is hammering at a rotten piece of wood to make a home for bugs to live, which she will come back and eat in  a few weeks. She is very focused in her hammering and I watch how she prepares for each bout of hammering. This lovely, bright bird with a bright red panache on her crown draws back slowly, take several preparatory shots and then hits the wood with precision and confidence. She is of course planning for the future. And she reminds of a principle that is very important in World Metaphoric Transformation. Even really rotten pieces of old wood can be dug into for something edible.

We will meet along our individual paths, challenges which are the Other. The Other is all that we are not. And the only really reliable things about the Other , is that it will appear when you are ready, you won’t feel ready, it will challenge you only  as far as you are capable, it will probably blind side you, and it will take you to your next level of growth and greatness. Like the ancient study of alchemy which attempted to transform lead into gold, so too, we can become modern day alchemists and turn all of our challenges and dead wood, into experiences that help us grow, lead us to right action and develop compassion.

This step of transformation takes a vision of holism- a belief and understanding and a life style which reflect this wisdom. The vision of inter-connectiveness creates a cauldron which brings the challenge into focus and allows our soul to mature and become larger.  This is the first and most important step of World Metaphoric Transformation. This step can be liken to moving from a place of ‘zero’ or void, confusion, darkness and lack of direction and purposelessness into ‘one’ or oneness. The duality of the universe is created between void and form, between love and hate, darkness and light, life and death…the list goes on. Now physicists have discovered that the space between atoms is what connects all matter and proves the Unified Field theory. This is not really new for those of us who are studied the ancient spiritual teachers who had direct knowledge of the world. Taking the step out of void into form, from despair into hope- is essential. What you are stepping from and into is not so important as the act of courage, faith and world love that you are bringing into your life and being. This is the healing of the world.

So just as the wood pecker showed me this morning how to utilise what is not needed any more, rotten, distracting, by digging deep into it and finding the little bugs of wisdom that can be eaten. Then a greater vision of the world develops-an appreciation that the rotten wood is essential for the next step. The rotten wood will bring bugs and bacteria that will gradually break it down, wood peckers and other bug eaters will feast, gradually the wood will fall to the ground, compost and a new tree will grow from it.

Try This!

1.       Take a situation that is causing fear, conflict or obsessive thinking in your life right now. Take the first one that comes to mind. For a moment, not too long, not long enough to slip into unaware obsessive thinking about it, identify the feelings you have about this situation E.G My friend Charlotte hasn’t phone me for ages and she forgot my birthday. That hurts! I feel…unrecognized, unloved, invisible.

2.       Notice those emotional clues to what the situation is really about. As I’ve written about before-the story is always about me. What part of this story is really about YOU? We are holographic beings living in a holographic universe, so everything that arises in me also arises in some way in the world, and what arises in the world also arises in me. E.G This story is about being ignored, what part of myself am I ignoring? What part of myself am I not recognizing? Why am I unhappy about that?

3.       Now that you have followed the bread crumb trail (see previous postings) back to where this conflict really started-you can begin to heal it, to turn the old rotten wood back into something useful. E.g. I feel like I have betrayed my trust in myself somehow. By not cultivating true friends, I have ignored some part of myself.

4.       You have the insight into what the conflict is really about (your relationship with yourself and the world). Now begin to formulate some action plan that can support your new found wisdom E.g. I need to make some new friends, I need to be myself more with my friends so I’m connecting with those who are truly care and understand me. I need to let go of those who don’t ‘see’ me and find friends who do. I will take a risk and reach out to someone new every week. This week I will attend a new group that I’ve heard about but which I’ve been a little scared of going to.

5.       Now-eat your bugs! Enjoy!