October 17, 2023
From Shifting Sands to Celebrating Life
By Amba Gale
From Shifting Sands to Celebrating Life
Last Spring, my husband and I rode on a camel to watch the sun set on the Saharan desert near the Morocco/Algerian border.
Getting on and off the camel was an experience I will never forget. It was kind of like riding a bucking horse. You had to hang on to the metal bars, not to fall off, bars which are on the “saddle” of the camel.
When we arrived at our destination, far into the desert, our guides asked us to get off the camel and climb to the top of the sand dune.
That was no easy feat. (No pun intended originally, but it’s a good pun)
Planting my foot on the dune allowed me to get a certain distance, and then the sand gave way under my weight. I’m 68 years old and, though healthy, my knees were not happy with me that day. So, it took something to scramble to the top. Finally, I made it, welcomed by the cheers of the others in the group.
The sand dunes were beautiful.
They were also sand dunes.
Just like those shifting sands, the world is in flux. We take a step forward and find ourselves going backward. In a workshop I took with with Mark Nepo this last weekend, he alluded to the caterpillar, who also curls his body backward before he can advance.
I appreciate this as a metaphor for life right now.
Sometimes, chaos precludes breakthrough. Sometimes, the very obstacles in front of us are the very teachers we need to have at that moment. Sometimes, as Meg Wheatley says, disorder is the harbinger and the necessary step before creative, new order.
Resilience is called for. Being unattached to a particular outcome is called for. Commitment is called for. Attached? No. Committed, yes. Attached, expecting the world to be a particular way or people to be a particular way, in accordance with our image, we lose our sense of being at peace.
I committed to arriving, difficult as it was (and after giving up a few times), to the top of the sand dune. From there, we enjoyed the camels hanging out. From there, we watched the sun setting.
From there, we laughed, rested, and enjoyed each other’s company. From there, we celebrated the success of getting to the top of the dune.
Given the shifting sands of our external world, it is more important than ever to find our own inner rudder, live life out of our passion, and our Soul’s purpose, our own North Star.
When we go deep enough into our own unique individuality, we drop into the universal center of it all and find that place that connects us all, that place of Oneness, Connection, belonging, and profoundly related community.
I invite you to The Joy of Being. I invite you to bring your own, particular, unique-to-you, gift out into the world, to light up the world with your light.
The conversation is so important and critical at this juncture of our lives, at this new epoch we are entering, I am opening it up for graduates and nongraduates of The Heart of Leadership alike, who are strongly committed to deep developmental work, who are out to—
— provide yourself with a soulful way of leading others in the world
— release what no longer serves you: what part of your world is it time for you to make, and unmake?
— discern the essential design of your core (that which is “hidden and real,” as David Whyte says)
–discern your own individual unique purpose in life – that which “brings you alive” and that you came to contribute to the world
–discover the path that Spirit invites you to take
–design a life that you would love to lead
With love, I invite you to join us in this profoundly Life-Giving conversation,
To read further about The Joy of Being >
If, after reading the material, you would like to have a conversation with us to see if it is a fit, please contact us.
