or spiritually and let our fears go, we are making room for the sacred to enter. I have had my own doubts and battles with God and religion over the years but am currently nestled in an easier place and have found a way to connect to the Divine that makes sense to me. For me, the Divine is universal energy and needs us as much as we need it to thrive. I ask you to hear my references to God or the Divine however it makes sense to you. And if that means substituting the name of your dog or cat, then that is just fine, because I know how much you love your beasties.
This path is about letting in joy—integrating small changes in your life so that you will have the emotional and spiritual tools to carry through with the bigger changes. Each step you take makes room for the new energy. Creativity is a tool. Awareness is a tool. Faith is a tool. You are supported by the universe, powers so much greater than yourself or the negative voices in your head or from your past, or the fear in your heart. Every strong, courageous, loving thought and gesture refills the well and heals us all.
Working with this hook, you will discover your own rhythm of change, open the avenues to allow joy in, and welcome the emotions of change. The first threshold to cross will focus on who you are, how you interact in the world, and how you spend your energy. The second asks you to look at the truth of where you are now as you begin the journey and asks where you want to go. The third invites you to practice with small changes and actions and key in to the momentum you have already keen creating. And finally, you will come to a new place as a changed person and will explore what still waits to be done. You will have new tools and emotional vocabulary and also, I hope, a Letter understanding of your role in your own life. There will be new challenges and questions at every new spot, and you will spin from one place to the next, carrying the momentum and learning to love change and what’s around the next corner.
Each step of change is an unfolding, an unfolding that may reveal difficult truths and realizations. The idea is to move past them, drift past them like a balloon in the Macys Thanksgiving Day parade—you can see them as you float on over them, acknowledge them, and keep on going. By all means, don’t stay there and get tangled up in the wires. Understanding and accepting these truths and realizations will carry you on to the next step of the journey and closer to lasting change by making room for courage and joy. If you follow through the steps and cross each threshold, you will gain a Letter understanding of the energy within and around you and, therefore, the power to influence the momentum of change.
My grandmother was a recognized collage artist who came to it when she was in her fifties. When I was young, she set me up at my own little table while she was working and gave me my own supplies to create with. One of her sisters was a painter, another a singer, and their mother was a dancer and activist—creativity runs deep in the family. I have fallen into writing in my thirties and seem to write like I make collages. Come to think of it, this is Low I make quilts and cook, too. First there is a wild flurry of tearing and shouting and crashing and then flipping through piles of paper and magazines and hits of boxes and hags. Then, by trying little things here, throwing paint and sparkles at the paper there, and then obscuring almost all of what I just put down with seven more layers of color and texture just because something else caught my eye, something is hatched. My friend Cathleen likens me to a raccoon because they are intrigued by shiny things and I can’t seem to stay on one subject for more than a very few minutes. I, too, am distracted by shiny things. I am not great at structure or confined spaces, so that is what you get with my writing style, too. Let’s think of it as a collage. There may be interesting corners and sections that reveal themselves over time and after several passes. I hope the overall canvas is pleasing and maybe intriguing and inspiring. The adventure of life is textured, layered, colorful, and ever-changing. And that is a good thing.
I wrote The Way of Change as a journey of discussion and discovery about ourselves, our energy, and the energy all around us, and how we can impact change in our lives and in the world. There is great work to be done and challenges to be met in the stillness as well. For some, the quiet will be the hardest part—not only making room for it but looking at and accepting what you may find there. A day away from a workout is when muscles are built in physical training, and the same can be said for the stillness in spiritual training. The exercises focused on delving into a spiritual assessment are as important as any action steps. If you are focused on every worst-case scenario, disease prevention instead of wellness as the natural state of being, letting fear and unhappiness predominate, then we will work to change your emotional vocabulary. We will work to make joy and possibility predominate your thoughts and emotions and be the stars in your spiritual theater.
We will explore fear, but only in passing, because I don’t want you to stay there. Through stories and exercises, we will look at how faith, intuition, and spirit are involved with changing our lives. Some of the exercises just might bring up the questions you were hoping would go away or truths you have turned away from. We’ve all done that. Following through with the exercises builds consciousness through the shift, and using new or atrophied emotions helps trigger the momentum of change. Sometimes the best we can do is to just figure out the questions and take small, deliberate steps as an answer, and that is the best place to begin. We know all these answers already of what brings us joy and how we want our lives to be, but we may have to quiet the noise that has drowned these voices out. We will reach inside to bring out the thoughts that bring us maximum joy and begin the journey leading with these emotions for a change.
You may balk at certain steps in the process and have to repeat others before you are ready to move further along. Take this on in your own time, at your own speed. We all learn differently. It may be challenging at first, and uncomfortable, and probably unfamiliar. Part of the challenge is to stay there and not fall back into the familiar. It is easier to go from a place of pain to a place of joy than to go from a place of complacency to a place of joy. From complacency we tend to sink into fear and unhappiness, rather than making the leap to euphoria. The tasks and assignments are designed for you to create subtle energy shifts and to refocus emotional cues to carry you through. Hopefully, you will integrate some of them into your life permanently. You may need to learn to walk again when you just got used to running everywhere, but when you begin to feel the momentum of change, you will feel the power of the energy within and around you. You will be amazed. And that is the point of life, after all.
■ CH-CH-CHANGES ■
Many women I know, including myself, react the same way to dramatic (or traumatic) change in our lives—we cut and/or dye our hair. I am certain I do it as a catalyst for change. It’s so immediate and doesn’t take months or years, like dieting or learning French. I’m known as the “woman of a thousand hairstyles” by my friend David because every time he sees me, my hair is different. Somehow telling myself, “It is only hair, it will grow back,” gives me permission to change other aspects of my life and slip into other personas. Sometimes I find the motivation and courage to venture into the unknown, the untried territories of spiritual discovery. Small changes are a good way to begin. If a small external change is going to inspire you to make courageous internal changes, then take that small bite and see what happens.
My hair has gotten pretty short since I began writing this book. It has been a joyful and challenging journey. I believe what I have written with all of my heart. I offer it with the intention of inspiring you to act with grace as often as you can and to find joy on the journey you are on now or the new path yet to be discovered, yet to be embraced.
I urge you to accept both the missteps and the triumphs on your journey. In doing so, you may reveal your personal source springs of courage. You may become more mindful of the world around you, stay longer in a place of joy and wonder, and find a deeper gratitude for all that is present and possible in your life. Take away what inspires you and leave what doesn’t. Through the many stories I tell in the book, you may find the world a little bit smaller; you just might feel reassured to know that you are not alone with your questions, reactions, or dreams. Better yet, my hope is that they will inspire you on your journey of self-discovery. Through working with this book, may you discover what ignites your spirit.
P.S. You will come across quotes from writers, poets, and inspirational voices throughout the book. Read all the quotes out loud when you come across them, even if you have read/heard them before. You may hear something you didn’t allow through your filters last time, so listen