“To share our ineffable spirits and our radiance is the highest service we can offer.”
LJJ, Quest, 2015
Thanks to kurunbagaa.net
Today’s #Quest 2016 prompt, from visionary Sally Hogshead:
Of these 3 options, which one is most important in your work right now?
• Quality of life
• Quality of work
• Quality of compensation
I wrote the above quote last year in Quest15. And I still believe it.
I see the answer to this question like a braid. Life, work and compensation intertwine.
The quality of my life is, in large measure, a reflection of the quality of my work. My work is a circle. I serve the spirits to serve my students and clients; I serve my clients and students to serve the spirits. I sit in the center and bask in the radiance of the embrace of that circle.
I tell students something when we first start working that I know they will not fully comprehend because it takes a long, long time to understand it, let alone live it.
The real goal is not to practice shamanism, but to live shamanically.
To bow to the spirit of all flora and fauna, the sentient and nonsentient. To sing gratitude to the water when you shower. To understand that your beloved companion animal chose you as much as you chose her, and that she is a teacher. To understand what the clouds are telling you. To understand that it is far better to revel in Mystery than dissect it.
To feel anger when it is present, own it, and then give it to the spirits to transmute it into healing for a suffering soul instead of sending it to the person or the situation (always, a work in progress).
To KNOW that no matter how intense things may be, Bear and other spirits as well as my beloveds have my back and there will be something to learn. Life, for me, is a series of initiations. That means sometimes I fly on the back of Bear, and I am celebratory. Sometimes, I am holding Bear by the tail as he charges, and I hang on for dear, dear life.
My life is a constant expression of my work, and the magnificent love I receive when I do it. Because that is what I and my clients do receive – love from the spirits, which can take many forms. And the simple truth is love heals, and it is the only thing that heals.
My work informs my life, and my life informs my work; they are not separate. And because of that? The word “compensation” seems too meager for what I receive from both. What I receive is radiance. What I receive is life serving me.