It seems that the storm has moved through. I sit on the front porch of this home and look around me, seeing what I see and wondering what I don't see.I'm writing today to share a movement that is occurring. I'm moving from one known to a larger unknown. I've been working with Counseling Associates in New London for over a year and a half now. It's time to let go, to grow.
I have a tattoo of an eagle on my right shoulder, inked there in 1998. Many have asked me what my tattoos symbolize. I'm generally ill-equippled in those moments to express the meaning - images carry more weight than words at times. What I have noticed is that eagles have been present to me over the years in times of transition. While being very experienced in the art of transition, I'm no master of change because I'm genuinely terrified at times of letting go.
There's a myth that an eagle goes through a molting process in mid-life - removing some of its feathers so that it is less weighted. Whether myth or truth is not so important to me. What struck me was the way I was affected by another example of releasing in order to grow.
Letting go of my job at Counseling Associates, a very fine perch to sit on, asks that I accept (if not embrace) the unknown. This is not a step I'm taking because my current role is distasteful, only that it now feels limiting. The image on my shoulder shows an eagle with wings wide open. I accept that Life allows and demands that I host the ability both to tuck in and be quiet as well as open and unfurl - listen for both my inner wisdom and be attuned to the weather and the wind currents.
Working in the field of psychotherapy, many people I meet are seeking counseling because they have come to an experience of suffering because Life is either thrusting change upon them or they can "feel" that something is not quite right. Perhaps they have arrived at an opportunity to see that a way they hold themselves in the world has gotten too small. Perhaps they see that a belief that has been guiding their choices has begun to cause pain. Either way, it's an edge to see something in one's world has to give way and to not know what lies on the other side.
Just this past week, it was awesome to watch the people here prepare for a weather system which was being termed "a perfect storm." It seems we are excited beyond words at what might happen and simultaneously do everything in our power to insulate ourselves from the experience. What a wonderful species we are!
And so, that said, here's to letting go - weather will be weather, life will be life, prepare myself to the best of my ability and stay awake for possibility.
The image is a dragonfly taken by my wonder-filled friend, Kirsten, in Colorado. Not an eagle but yet another symbol of the Mystery of Transformation attuned to its environment. Kirsten 'captured' this image as the dragonfly waited for the morning sun to dry the dew that had collected on it overnight. Patience. Possibility. Life.
If interested, I am slowly building a website for my solo practice at www.marthamcclure.net with the help of my amazing nephew, Chris. My appreciation to all who have allowed me to get to this place.
