A Better Endings Yeats Poem about Building Bridges of Understanding

Driving home from spiritual activities the other day a poem came to mind and I realized this poem is very appropriate to this year’s “better endings” theme of Building Bridges. It is a poem by William Butler Yeats, long one of my favorite poets, so much so that I memorized several poems from The Selected Works of W. B. Yeats when I was in my late teens and these poems continue to inform and nurture my life nearly 40 years later.  The poem is “Words.” Notice the Better Endings theme in Yeats’ effort to communicate effectively to his beloved:

 

From memory 1/19/20:

Words

By William Butler Yeats

I had this thought a while ago:

My darling cannot understand

What I have done or what would do

In this blind, bitter land.

And I grew weary of the Sun

Until my thoughts cleared up again,

Remembering that the best that I have done

Was done to make it plain;

That at length I could cry,

At last my darling understands it all,

Because I have come into my strength,

And words obey my call.

That had she done so,

Who can say what might have

Shaken from the sieve?

I might have thrown poor words away

And been content to live.

I can so relate; can you? I feel that building pathways of understanding is the very basis of human experience.  Whether through art, poetry, fictional narrative, memoire, or basic day-to-day conversation, through language and other expressive forms we communicate, either more or less effectively, and perhaps more or less in a reciprocal fashion as well. We listen and we share. Listening probably should always come first, even listening to our own thoughts as well as to what the other is truly sharing, so we can communicate truly, not just remaining stuck in our own ideas.

This is a key to unlocking schismogenesis or downward-spiraling discord, this month’s topic.  Communication, to be true, must forge a bridge of mutual understanding and mutual acceptance.

Maybe even Yeats could have added how his ardent desire to express himself fully to his beloved would benefit from listening well to what his beloved was also aiming to express to him. Communication is a two-way process, not one sided.

So, life is art, art is life. By that I mean, day to day we strive to express and to understand one anothers’ expressions.  As such we move forward, rather than being entrenched. As such we may yet proclaim, ‘Ahah!’ when we finally hear another’s thought or viewpoint as their art form, with genuine appreciation. Perhaps only by so doing may we overcome barriers to harmony and mutual growth in the human community.  Would that the political discourse of the day would share that better endings goal!

Heed the Call

What nags at you, reaching back  from your possible, desirable future? Yes it is that: possible and even within the realm of the probable if only you will heed the Call that beckons only to you!

Martha Graham said it best:

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost.” 
― Martha Graham

Physicists now theorize there are flows from the future to the past as much as from the present via memory. What is a future memory but a vision? Sages say: “All creation is finished in the lower worlds,” as the outer reality is but a reflection, a projection from higher planes.

images are from pixabay.com

So look within, listen, and heed YOUR call! The universe will meet you half way!

A Message in a Bottle for You

“The world is full of people

who have stopped listening

to themselves.”

-Joseph Campbell

Imagine you are alone on a desert island and a bottle with a message rolled up inside it drifts up onto the beach. You pick up the bottle and to your great surprise, it has YOUR NAME written on the label!

Uncork the bottle and pull out the message. Have a seat on the beach and READ YOUR MESSAGE.

It is from your very own, unconscious, COMMUNICATOR Archetype Ally.

What does the message say?

I welcome your insights and stories.

Your Communicator Ally

Consider there is a part of yourself we can call your COMMUNICATOR, an archetypal aspect of your total Self identity. That means you have developed an “archetypal” mode of expression that you can draw upon unconsciously when you aim to communicate well. Of course, if your COMMUNICATOR part of self has been inhibited or is conflicted then this may actually interfere with your communicative style until or unless you recognize these issues and work through them to a condition of greater awareness or balance.

Are there some situations in your life in which you rely on your inner COMMUNICATOR and in which you feel more—or, less—confident communicating? When does your COMMUNICATOR feel most competent? Least? What issues may be coming up for you with the latter?

To model addressing such questions, let me share here just a bit. I feel most comfortable “as” a communicator in a classroom or lecture type setting (pairing Communicator skills there with my dominant Teacher persona), or in the process of writing, or else in conversation with a close and trusted friend.  One of my best friends, Jan, really taught me HOW to communicate as a friend; she encourages me to be open about feelings and from her I have become a better listener, so this pairs COMMUNICATOR with my NOURISHER persona. When writing, I tap into  my spiritual or MYSTIC outlook.

In all then, I find COMMUNICATOR is a versatile archetypal aspect that pairs well with several other facets of Self.

I feel least comfortable communicating when I feel I may be judged or scrutinized. Then my Communicator turns inward, pairing with my reserved, Descender character. I have always felt Silence to be a valuable form of communication especially when used to be introspective or to refrain from talking inappropriately. Silence, in the right form, can be a generous, thoughtful act. Of course, it could also be used to withhold trust or honesty.

It can be helpful to listen to your COMMUNICATOR if you are feeling restraint or fearful about self-expression. You can contemplate or journal to tune into your unconscious archetypal “Assembly” to see what your COMMUNICATOR may need. Sometimes It just needs to be heard!

I welcome your insights and stories!

Dialogue with a Mystic: In You!

Archetype Dialogue can be a helpful tool for gaining greater self-awareness and clarity about any topic in your life about which you feel uncertain or in conflict. Where should you go for your spring vacation? Or, should you date that person? Take that new job? Make a change, and of what kind? Checking in with members of your unconscious ensemble cast of archetype Allies can help you to expose aspects of your own suppressed attitudes, feelings and motivations.

You can enter into Archetype Dialogue any time; in fact, we all do it naturally many times daily when we slip into “inner dialogue.” But when you consciously tune into your subconscious attitudes or conflicting outlooks on some topic or decision, you benefit from expanding your understanding of your own inner character modes and their considerations. Bottom line, you get to LISTEN to parts of your Self you might otherwise suppress or ignore.

As we are pairing the Mystic archetype with the metaphor Life is an Epic Quest this week, why don’t you take some time to ASK your Inner Mystic about the path you are on with some aspect of your life. What direction shall you go to maximize your Bliss or your goals with that leg of your journey of life?

Allow me to model this sort of archetype dialogue, briefly. I invite you to engage your own Mystic. You might begin with active imagination or contemplation (see Tuesday’s post). Then record a direct dialogue from your contemplative encounter.

(Self):  What is our next step, Mystic Lindy?

M: Do you mean regarding your writing?

S: Yes.

M: Stay the course.

S: Are we sure about that?

M: Absolutely.

S: But am I on the right track with this major revision? Is there more I still need to consider?

M: One small step at a time, but you are on the right track. Continue to remove all obstacles to the reader’s comprehension. Ask more of the reader.

S: How do you mean?

M: You can ask more direct questions for journaling reflections, not only in the “Tools” but throughout the narrative.

S: What kinds of questions, do you mean?

M: ‘Have you had a recurring form of Animal dream? What do you feel that animal reveals about you?’ OR: ‘If you were an animal, which animal would you be? Why? (Please complete Chapter x, # y before continuing.)’

S: I see. So we could spice up the Tool invitation boxes this way?

M: It is a way to interact, not just describe.

S: Thanks! I will use that. Anything else?

M: Trust.

S: But what if (you know)?

M: What waking dreams or golden-tongued wisdom have you perceived recently?

S:  That everything is fine.

M: Stay the course.

S: Thank you so much!

Continue to dialogue with your Mystic Ally so long as It continues to  advise you on your question. Know that It is always available to you.

I welcome YOUR insights and stories.

 

 

Follow Your Mystic Guide

This year at Life Paths for Better Endings we are conjoining twelve universal archetypal figures with twelve positive, goal-affirming Life Metaphors. This month we are focusing on The MYSTIC archetype in connection with the metaphor, Life is an Epic Journey. For our third week of the month, we bring these two ideas together, and it is natural to recognize that since life is an Epic Journey, the Mystic serves as a Guide.

I am very familiar with this fortuitous awareness of being able to follow a mystic Guide, as on my own spiritual path I recognize an Inner Master who appears often in my dreams and contemplations to offer his amazing, loving guidance, insight and protection. For me, acceptance of this inner guidance has been a major blessing in my life. I am deeply grateful to have discovered that life is so much more than outer appearances and that there are other-dimensional guides available always, for everyone, at any time.  While I work in a very worldly job outwardly as a professor, I feel extremely fortunate that this sphere has not confined my awareness or limited my perceptions of spiritual realities, and I will not deny nor apologize for my acknowledgement of the wonderful experiences this spiritual awareness has afforded me, time and time again.

The Mystic Guide—however else it may appear to you—is available as an archetypal persona that is a part of your Self and that you can call upon for clarity and direction whenever you are wondering what your next step could be.  Allow me to share an example.

When I was an undergrad in college many years ago in Buffalo, New York, I was on a quite successful intercollegiate fencing team. The last college tournament I participated in was a nationals qualifying event during my senior year of college. Our team had placed 9^th of over 125 universities (by two touches we would have been 7th) the previous year, but two of that team had graduated, and two less experienced, junior varsity teammates had joined me and my friend Ro (we had been the strongest fencers at that previous nationals, placing highly ourselves as well). Our coach, Denny, became overly aggressive in trying to force our younger teammates to step up beyond their level of skill, and he was also becoming overly forceful and aggressive with these teammates at meets. So at this last event, I did well as did my friend Ro; the rest competed as well as they could yet came up short of our coach’s demands. I found myself at that tournament at Ohio State University cheering on every good ‘touch’, whether by a teammate or by an opponent or by myself. I congratulated if an opponent won a bout as much as if a teammate did. Something was turning in me; my sense of competitiveness shifted to an appreciation of the sheer beauty of fencing as an art and of the endeavors and talents of each individual.

When we left that event, I sat in the back of the team van for the long ride home to Buffalo from Columbus, Ohio. I had recently discovered the practice of mantra singing, and for nearly the entirety of that road trip, I closed my eyes and chanted a single word: IS.  I sang that word as a mantra over and over: Is-is-is-is-is-is-isssss! I was contemplating existence itself, or ISness. And something amazing happened inwardly: I found myself in a round, high, turret like room with library shelves and books all around me, many stories deep, and a dome at the top. I was seated at a round table in the center, and all I had to do to get a book was to think of that and one of the books would come to me. ALL of the books in that round library were about the same subject: Language. I absorbed book after book, studying the titles, drinking in the immensity of the topic; its breadth and depth. All the while listening inwardly to:  IS-IS-IS-IS-IS-IS…

When we arrived back at our gym at the university in Buffalo, I approached Denny and announced to him that I was quitting the team from that moment forward. I took my own fencing equipment with me, and left. (My friend Ro did the same some weeks later.) But from the deep contemplation experience, I had found my next step in my own journey. That next week I started studying language intensively at the college library, and the next year I entered a graduate program in Linguistics at SUNY Buffalo; this has been the basis of my career foundation ever since.

It was something within me which I can now recognize as my inner Mystic Guide that set me to singing IS that day and showed me my inner passion for language that would become central to my life’s journey.  Something shifted inwardly while at the tournament that day, and this subtle shift in consciousness allowed me to be open to the inner direction of this mystical calling.

You and I only need, ever, to be willing to Listen and Learn!