Spontaneity

As I sit to write this newsletter for April – I am just coming off a trip to Mexico where I visited some friends who are part time residents down there now. We were talking about how they decided to sell their house and everything in it and live a semi-nomadic life. Note -this decision happened in the span of approximately 60 days.  60 days to change their entire lifestyle!!!!! I asked one of them what they liked most about their new life and she answered, “seeing new things and always getting to discover new places.”  And this struck me – they have created enough space in their lives to open up to spontaneous adventures wherever they go. She still works but gets to work from wherever she is and gets to still lean into the adventure of wherever it is she may be for that spell of time.

My trip to Mexico was actually a spontaneous decision. I talked with my friend one day and the next I had a trip booked for two weeks away. It felt good to just make the decision and then make it happen. Most of the time in my life these days, I have to consult the calendar and worst of all myself.....should I, can I, do I, bla bla bla! And while having a break from winter and sitting in the warm sun – I began to think of when I stopped being spontaneous in my life. When did I stop allowing myself to just act on something in the moment? The answer – so long ago I don’t even remember when it stopped. 

It is not always easy to be spontaneous in our lives these days. We have become busy, and so planned in our schedules. In some ways, the more into our “adult” lives we get the harder it is to be spontaneous – well in bigger ways such as travel etc. But as we get out of the habit of being spontaneous, we even fall out of spontaneity in the small ways. Saying yes to an unplanned dinner with friends, a last-minute invite to go skiing, to see a show or a concert, OR to say yes to the random game or activity our kids are asking us to do. 

What I have noticed for myself as my calendar becomes more of the ruling agent in my life – is that I have forgotten the whimsy in just doing something in the moment because I can, or because I just want to. I am not sure when it exactly happened but there has been this shift into - busy creates a sense of productivity or a sense of purpose or accomplishment. But busy is not exactly any of those things. Busy is busy. Busy is filling up our calendars and days with stuff and things and limiting the space for random beauty, magic, and opportunity to come in. Busy is crowding out spontaneity! And yes, sometimes our “busy” is business (work), kids, family, and such things – all valid things to fill up our calendars with – but we have taken it too far. We have lost the sublime art of doing nothing – of leaving wide open spaces to see what might or what could show up.

When we scrap our plans and just wing it – sometimes we stumble upon places, and things we would have never seen otherwise. What happens if we un-condition ourselves to “have to know”? If we allow ourselves to live into the unknown? To pivot unexpectedly when the desire pulls at us, or the soul calls for something unexpected? In those spaces lie infinite possibilities. To lean into the mystery of the unfolding. In the shamanic path I practice we work with the archetype of Hummingbird and one of the wisdoms she brings and teaches us it to lean into the mystery. To answer the call that is tugging at us before we have it all figured out. Obviously, it goes without saying that there is a great advantage to making a few plans, to having a sense of things – but this is all relative and contextual. There are times when this is best practice, and there are times when we can let go and lean into a little more of the unexpected adventure of something. It creates a sensation that I am going to venture to guess a majority of us who are between our 30’s and late 50’s has forgotten about or have not felt in quite a long time. 

So, the invitation this month is to open up the space for some spontaneity! Set your intention to allow for spontaneous adventure to come in. Open up to the unfolding of the mystery in our everyday, structured calendared lives. Let’s spice it up a bit and see what offers jump out and dare our sleepy adventurous selves to say YES!

Be well, be true, and live the life your soul is craving!

Dannielle

For Social

It is not always easy to be spontaneous in our lives these days. We have become busy, and so planned in our schedules. In some ways, the more into our “adult” lives we get the harder it is to be spontaneous – well in bigger ways such as travel etc. But as we get out of the habit of being spontaneous, we even fall out of spontaneity in the small ways. Saying yes to an unplanned dinner with friends, a last-minute invite to go skiing, to see a show or a concert, OR to say yes to the random game or activity our kids are asking us to do. 

What I have noticed for myself as my calendar becomes more of the ruling agent in my life – is that I have forgotten the whimsy in just doing something in the moment because I can, or because I just want to. I am not sure when it exactly happened but there has been this shift into - busy creates a sense of productivity or a sense of purpose or accomplishment. But busy is not exactly any of those things. Busy is busy. Busy is filling up our calendars and days with stuff and things and limiting the space for random beauty, magic, and opportunity to come in. Busy is crowding out spontaneity! And yes, sometimes our “busy” is business (work), kids, family, and such things – all valid things to fill up our calendars with – but we have taken it too far. We have lost the sublime art of doing nothing – of leaving wide open spaces to see what might or what could show up.

So, the invitation this month is to open up the space for some spontaneity! Set your intention to allow for spontaneous adventure to come in. Open up to the unfolding of the mystery in our everyday, structured calendared lives. Let’s spice it up a bit and see what offers jump out and dare our sleepy adventurous selves to say YES!

Be well, be true, and live the life your soul is craving!

Dannielle