Gather ye rosebuds while ye may” is perhaps my favorite line of Robert Herrick’s poem, To Virgins, to Make Much of Time. Remember this poem? Maybe you’ve never heard it. Maybe you have and you’ve forgotten it.
Gather ye rosebuds. This past year, as most years do, held some challenges, some big wins and many many moments lost between. Such is life. One of the lessons for me this past year had to do with time. I became aware of how I rushed I felt and how much I pushed myself. For the most part, I did not gather rosebuds. I gathered tension from my rushing and trying to do too much with too little time.
Of course, one of the consequences of this kind of rushing is moving out the spacious beauty of the Eternal NOW. This rushing also moved me out of my own nature, slow. I tend to move slowly. I tend to dawdle. So much so that many years ago, my father gave me the nickname, Mo ~ “Damn girl, you move as slow as molasses at Christmas.”
There’s a balance that was obviously missing for me.
For the past several years, I’ve chosen a word or a phrase to help guide me ~ a kind of touchstone. Last year, the New Year flew past me and I didn’t choose a word. Turns out, I like having something to turn to and missed my word. This year, AWARENESS. Already this word has served me well. Really well.
I’ve long loved the luscious awareness that comes from mindfulness practice. Yet, adding the integration of opposites related to time with Spiritual Technology has revealed a widening AWARENESS and a gradually expanding and seemingly effortless mindful awareness.
Do you ever choose a word or phrase to lean into for the year? What’s your word for this year? It’s not too late. Once you’ve chosen your word or phrase, you can lean into the support of Spiritual Technology, especially DP4 to really bring your intention alive.
Melanie McGhee, L.C.S.W. is an award-winning author, relationship expert, psychotherapist and spiritual coach. She is also the founder of Abhimukti Yoga Coaches - providing coaches training to yoga teachers.