Molting

Greetings all,

I hope your summer has been fun so far.  I've mostly been getting things done the past few months.  I haven't done much seasonal frolicking.  My fun quotient is definitely down, but I feel like my growth quotient has been up.  I have certainly been receiving omens and signs.

The past year  I have been noticing the sounds of the seasons as they turn.  From the quiet of winter, to the songs of spring birds, and the drone and hum of insects of the summer sun.  I have been fascinated by cicadas for years.  I remember finding their empty exoskeletons as a child.  I was an adult before I saw them in their flying form.  I continue to find their empty husks on the sides of trees, but it wasn't until this summer that I saw one in between stages.  Still wearing that rigid exterior, but on the cusp of breaking free and spreading its wings.  I'd never actually seen what they look like in that husk, even though I hear them all around me in the summer.

People can be like that too.  We see them after they have broken free and soared, or before when they struggle crawling through their challenges.  It is rare that we get to see that point where the change happens, where they're still bound by limitations, but the breaks in their prison are starting to show.  I've seen it several times this summer.  I'm taking it as a sign, that though I still have a lot of struggles going on, I am close to that point where my wings burst forth and I can't be held down any longer.  I could be wrong, but it feels like I am close to achieving the kind of life I would like to live.

Of course that means right now is also a frustrating time.  It's the space where I see my dream in front of me, but I still can't seem to reach it.  Right now the temptation is to give up, start over and try something else.  If I do that though, I'll never get those wings.  That voice that lives in the darker regions of my psyche likes to say things like, "Who are you kidding, you'll never fly anyway."  At this point I don't know if that voice is lying or not, but it doesn't seem to be a kind voice.  This makes me suspicious.  Who is this voice serving?

Why am I telling you this?  Well times of transition are very powerful.  However when we don't complete the process of transformation we end up disempowered and empty.  Disillusionment is a real danger to our growth.  We have to focus and trust if we wish to emerge into a better form of living.

How about you?  Are you very close to realizing a milestone, but seem to be stuck in the last few lengths of the track?  Have you given up too soon?  Have you lost heart?  Is that little voice inside telling you it's pointless to keep trying?  Well consider this your wakeup call.  Listen to the cicadas, even the ones still in their husks.  They are there because thousands of generations before them persevered climbing the trunks of trees, lugging the heavy weight of their outer form until they could leave their burdens behind and spread their wings.  You are here because your ancestors made it, and you carry their strength within you.  Now is the time, trust, keep moving, and soon very soon, your time to fly will be upon you.

Peace and Blessings,
Thomas Mooneagle