With The Ease Of Water

ONE COMMUNITY PROGRAMS

Earth-Centered Awareness Programs to Support Personal and Global Balance

With the Ease of Water By Laura Turlington Have you ever marveled at how a single drop of water falling on a pond radiates out in seemingly infinite concentric rings? How is it that so little effort creates such a magnificent ripple? Can we use the example of water to lead us on a path of personal transformation and to a new understanding of will to put heart’s desire into action? Will is most often understood as the act of putting all of our effort into a task or goal. It is common to believe that we have to work against all odds to overcome something that is in our way or that we perceive as insurmountable. This is probably the most familiar way we conceive of will – as the strength needed to overcome an obstacle. At its base, this is a useful description of will: it catches our attention and concentrates our focus towards a goal. Perhaps this is also where the distortion of will begins. Will is the force that focuses our attention to implement our intention, but does it really take a Herculean effort? At some point in our cultural history, the meaning of will shifted from the ability to focus attention in a specific direction to the need to put exhausting work into something. One could surmise that this distortion is an expression of our culture’s over-reliance on things that we can see – results that we can measure – effort that is palpable. Perhaps in the beginning, invoking will was an act of faith, not an act of muscle. From this point of view, we can begin to see how a water drop is like undistorted will: the drop of water falls, not with internally generated force, but with gravity as its lead. It is the nature of water to seek the easiest route; to flow from one place to another via the path of least resistance. When water follows its nature, amazing things happen: a river carves its way through solid rock; a droplet lands on the surface of a pond and expands itself exponentially beyond its physical dimension. Imagine if we could use the example of water to model our personal path of transformation. What would it look like? First, water just does what it does naturally – it does not try to be a tree or a rock. For the human, this translates into knowing heart’s desire. It is natural for humans, when not distracted by doubt, disbelief and scarcity, to live heart’s desire. What is heart’s desire? At the most basic level, it is to create, express, and live in joy and balance. It is that simple. The key to our personal path of transformation is finding our unique expression of joy and balance in the world. Second, water takes the path of least resistance to maintain or increase its flow. Imagine if the human used an undistorted image of will - will as faith - to focus our attention on creating our heart’s desire? Human complexity enters when we decide to “push the boulder up the hill” rather than to allow the flow to carry us. Does this mean that creating a life of joy and balance is a passive act? Not in the least. Remember that the first step in personal transformation is focusing our attention on our heart’s desire – this action must take place to signal the universe to bring us that which, if we are paying attention, will take us in the direction of balance and joy. Remember the example of water: it does not increase its amplitude internally – it amplifies itself by using gravity, or wind, or other allied aspects of nature. We can do this too by engaging allying forces that will naturally amplify our efforts. Imagine not having to muscle our dreams into place, exhausting ourselves along the way. When we acknowledge that there is more to the flow of the universe than meets the physical eye, we invite that flow to support us along our path. Transformation is a one-step-at-a-time process. It begins with stating heart’s desire and focusing undistorted will in the direction of that desire. Evolution into an era of balance and unity begins with each individual, like a single drop of awareness in a pond, rippling out to awaken ourselves first, and then on in seemingly infinite concentric rings, touching all consciousness along the way.

This article was first printed in aspire magazine, April 2008. Please visit www.aspiremag.net Please contact Laura at One Community Programs for information about lectures and upcoming events

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