Often, I'll hear from people who are at a loss as to which option to say 'yes' to, and which to decline. These are individuals who have a deep yearning for a way of being and doing and living that feels more heart-centered and soul-aligned.
All of us, at some point or another -- and perhaps more often than that -- feel separated from our inner-guidance, or guiding star. And even if we feel as if we 'know the answer', spiritual practice has made us aware that sometimes our 'knowledge' is itself disconnected -- an inheritance from a culture in which too long the intellect has presided without connection to body, spirit, soul, or wisdom.
So if we can't trust our 'old knowing' -- that habitual pattern of judging and deciding -- how can we know which choice, which direction, which action or inaction is right for us?
Early in the year, I came across a quote from the Sufi poet and mystic, Hafiz. It has, in the days and weeks since, proved a reliable guide and practice for discerning the path or option that is in alignment with my heart and wisdom, versus that of 'old mind'.
"What is real, what is unreal? That which turns up the corners of your mouth, trust that. ~ Hafiz
That which turns up the corners of your mouth, trust that. Nothing else -- whether we have been taught to perceive it as 'real' or as 'unreal' -- can be truly reliable without a confirming sense from our own intuition and wisdom, which often uses our bodies to signal.
If the corners of our mouths are truly and spontaneously 'turning up', and if we practice following this spontaneous response into our bodies and feel it deeply, we'll feel that the 'smile' reaches outward from our core, our hearts, and it feels that every cell in our body is smiling. And thus the corners of our mouths turn up.
This 'turning up', this smiling inwardly and outwardly, may feel gentle, passionate, energetic, or quiet, but at its source, there is joy.
Lots of love,
Jamie
Jamie Walters is the founder of Ivy Sea and the author of, among other things, Big Vision, Small Business, the critically acclaimed conscious-enterprise and spirit-centered right-livelihood guide published by Berrett-Koehler. She is a respected horizon-walker and guide for humane business, right livelihood, and engaged or embodied spirituality -- including the embodiment and expression of the Divine Feminine, and a 'reconnection' to your Divine Spark.
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