Spirit and Form

From the book and workbook, “Living In the Light,” by Shakti Gawain

Shakti defines spirit and form like this, “Our Spirit is the creative energy of the universe which moves through us to manifest in the world.  Our Form is our physical body, our mind and our personality – the medium through which our spirit moves.”

The problem is that what they seek is often in conflict. The spirit wants expression, change, a bigger life, while the form wants safety and security, and for things to remain the same. Shakti says this explains how we can be conscious and strong one day and lost and panicking the next.

So many of us spend most of our lives feeling lost and dissatisfied, no matter what we have. Shakti tells us it’s because of “our lack of connection to our spirit.”  Our spirit and form are working against each other. Often, the only time we can regain that connection is when we give up and surrender. That’s the point where we can bring these two into alignment.

You can have it either way.  You can focus on your spirit and keep it from ever having to be dragged down by the form. (Frankly, the form keeps us alive and functioning, so you can’t really do that for long.)  If it’s all about form, you carry that burden of “I can’t get no satisfaction.”

Shakti wants us to “recognize and feel” both sides.  Secondly, we need to love and accept these seemingly opposite sides of ourselves.  “It’s frustrating,” Shakti warns, “to see that your form can’t do all your spirit wants to yet. But it’s important to appreciate it as it is now and allow the integration to take place at its own pace.”  Sigh.  Well, that’s life, isn’t it?

Like all of this, it’s about listening to your inner voice and following its guidance.  This will build trust.  “The more the form surrenders to and moves with the spirit, the more enlightened and empowered it will become.”  There’s that surrender again!

Up comes this notion about will – that will is not about gritting teeth and moving forward.  But more about knowing and allowing.  Watch what happens when you’re too afraid to follow your intuition. Try to tell the truth about what you can and can’t do.  But don’t forget to be easy on yourself. The more you can keep judgements out of it, the easier it will be to see when you are following the right voice. That will build  trust  in your ability to hear and heed guidance and your willingness to follow it.

Exercise 9 is another 3 column exercise in the workbook.
In the first column, is What I Desire to Do – what your soul longs to do, like take a wonderful vacation to an exotic place, or save the environment, or be a famous singer.  Then list what you are doing now to make this happen.  In the third column, come up with a step you can take toward expressing this desire.

I was surprised to find that I am taking steps toward many of the things I desire.  This is probably thanks to Dream Boogie.  Others I feel okay about not pursuing right now – like building my dream house.  I continue to envision it and think about having it, but it doesn’t feel like the time to start drawing up plans.  I don’t need an Aston Martin at this particular place and time, either.  If I have the time, I might do a little online research to be sure it’s the DB9 I want and maybe choose my color.  I could find a picture of it to hang on my wall.  But, otherwise, I think it can sit for the time being.

One of my desires is to have my writing touch lots of hearts.  I hope that I’m doing that by posting to this Blog and searching for more readers.

There are also some heroes (and heroines) that I would like to meet someday.  I am, as it turns out, actively seeking them out through my business, UpWrite Words.  As for my dream of being a published author? Check. I work on that regularly as I prepare a book proposal.

This exercise made me feel good about the ways I’m working to integrate my form and spirit.

Can you list 10 things you desire to do?