The Elixir of Musical Harmony

On Fridays I am doing a “negativity fast.”  That means that any critical thought or negative emotion that enters my mind, I wash it away or dissolve it immediately, focusing instead on only neutral or positive thoughts and experiences.  Because I have made a conscious choice to do this fast, it works wonderfully!

The goal of this fast is to help me maintain a greater harmony in life overall. I tend to be fairly overwhelmed at this stage as I am teaching several extra classes to prepare for retirement and relocation, plus I have a book release coming up that I need to shepherd by preparing for a book event tour.  With all that in addition to health matters requiring daily maintenance, I find my nerves are often somewhat frayed. All these changes looming on the horizon are unsettling to my introspective, balance and security seeking Cancerian nature!

One great elixir that helps me achieve a greater harmony and positive acceptance of what I can do to press forward day by day is music.  Thank heaven for Pandora as a musical companion while working!

Music weaves harmonies that can lift, inspire, soothe and encourage us to face our challenges with grace instead of acrimony.  Such a gift!

My love of musical companionship pervades my life history; does it yours too? My mother would play piano on many an afternoon while her five children did homework or played at home. “Moonlight Sonata” was one of her favorites and so it is one of mine always.  I played violin in several orchestras and took private lessons for many years. My sister Lee and I spent countless evenings during high school years talking and playing cards in her room while listening to Simon & Garfunkle, the Beatles and other popular songsters of the 60’s and 70’s. Lee’s favorites were “MacArthur’s Park” and “Delilah”; some of my favorites then were “Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding, “King of the Road,” “In My Life” by the Beatles, and “Imagine.” Lee and I both loved, and still do, Ravel’s “Bolero.”

images are gratefully from pixabay.com

A musical Life Map can be revealing of the trends and focus of your life over time.  What are you listening to now compared to during earlier life stages? I listen more now, in my sixties, to melodious Classical music and to Celtic artists, who seem more in touch with harmonies of place and family rather than romance or intrigue.  Yet I still enjoy most of the music I have always enjoyed.  Music weaves the various stages and experiences of life together as a unified whole!

Here for your enjoyment then, a song that bares my Soul, In My Life :

I welcome YOUR Comments and Stories. What was/is your favorite music or song, and why?

 

Name Your Elixir!

After the initiatory achievement of Apotheosis (see September posts), the adventuresome Hero (you, for instance!) may partake of the Elixir of personal empowerment. Such Elixirs may come in many forms: Manna from Heaven— as my sister, the Rev. Lee Ireland’s guest blog discusses in last Sunday’s post; or Logos/the Word; Spirit essence; spirit waters; Ambrosia of the Gods; or more simply, an empowering sense of enlightenment or awareness that empowers personal Life Mission to serve Life!

I guess my elixir is, ideally, humility. To me, humility is the awareness that the “best that I have done” has been of divine inspiration and service. I like the phrase: “Love is all, and do as thou wilt.” (From Stranger By the River, by Paul Twitchell)  Love and humility are the best cocktail I could drink! They fuel an ardent passion to serve Life.

An elixir may be as pure and simple as an attitude, like humility, that comes with your  success in some endeavor or service that benefits the Whole. Some elixirs we might contemplate this month are:

Gratitude

Compassion

Empathy

Unconditional Love

Joy

Harmony

Balance

images are from pixabay.com

I welcome this month any suggestions of elixirs which you seek or from which you have benefitted.

So, name YOUR Elixir!

Let Your LOVER Be Your Guide

 

So yesterday once again I was walking the labyrinth path and received this impression:

“Let your Lover be your Guide.”

I recognize that since this is near the end of the month of October in which I have been focusing this blog around the Lover archetype, this message meant for me to let Her lead the way for me as I go forward with some wonderful new opportunities surrounding my book, Your Life Path.  I am about to step forward into a whirlwind of activity, it seems, to complete the final polishing edit and then, after it is published, to promote it so that it will reach all readers who can benefit from its life mapping Tools.

But I also realize this message is meant for you all.

LET YOUR LOVER BE YOUR GUIDE!

images are from pixabay.com

Archetypal psychology is largely about INTEGRATING your inner archetypal personas, harmonizing them to work together as Allies as you go forward to manifest your goals and to live your greatest life.  While any one or another of your inner archetypal parts-of-Self might dominate for this or that situation, putting the Lover in you first can mean,

Let LOVE lead the Way!

What would Love do, right? I invite you to contemplate and then to put into practice the Path that Love shall forge.

Integrating Your Elder Leader

 

This year for the final post every month let’s focus on INTEGRATING the Archetype of the month within your Ensemble Cast of Archetype Allies. Your archetypal persona parts of Self function best in dynamic interaction with one another within what I like to call your Total Self System. This harmonizes their various energies to bring a greater balance to your perspective and more depth to your thoughts and creative expression.

Consider your Elder Leader mode with respect to your overall  presentation of Self. Acting alone, this archetypal role persona can be overbearing or rigid. Yet tempering this focus by integrating it with other archetypal energies such as the Nurturer, the Healer, the Lover or the Artist can bring a much more dynamic and brilliant approach, a multidimensional depth to your leadership style.

To help you integrate your Elder Leader, think about a leadership role that you occupy either as a parent or at your work or in your social or spiritual group. Is there a plan of action you are intending to implement from your leadership stance? How might your plan of action or a leadership decision you may face benefit from taking multiple internal (and external) archetypal perspectives “to Heart”?

The list below represents The Twelve primary persona Archetype modes that are universal to human consciousness.  For each of these, I invite you to contemplate and write down how each might contribute to your plan of action, then write out a unified account of how you might utilize these various perspectives in implementing your leadership strategy for the situation you are facing. In italics just as exemplar statements I’ll model the practice but I encourage you to try this one yourself!

 

The Situation requiring a plan of action:  Acquiring some needed resources for my department.

Contributing archetypal input (abbreviated):

ELDER LEADER:  Draft  a formal  request specifying needs and itemizing costs.

NOURISHER: Discuss needs with department faculty and staff, collecting their input.

WARRIOR: Identify benefits for the group and establish a strategic, logical argument explicating needs.

LOVER: Compromise where possible to temper your request in relation to the needs and feelings of people in other departments.

IDEALIST: Reach for the highest! Don’t settle for less than what is truly needed for all concerned.

ARTIST:  Design your presentation to be well organized and clear, to shine.

GOLDEN CHILD: Be assertive in order to be generous, taking everyone you represent into full consideration. Envision abundance and deliver that.

DESCENDER: Consider deeply what the true needs are versus frills, and prioritize. Consider carefully before proceeding.

TEACHER: Demonstrate the key elements of your needs assessment clearly.

COMMUNICATOR: Write carefully to frame the request effectively.

HEALER: Aim to present how the needed elements can improve/ repair the capacity of the department to better fulfill its role for students and will benefit the whole system.

MYSTIC: Use wisdom, not just knowledge; approach this process wholly.

Dynamic Plan of Action: Gather input from faculty members and develop a well considered list of needs. Frame the request carefully and deliver it effectively and with wisdom.

images from pixabay.com

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN! Try this for yourself!

I welcome your comments and stories.