I have recently become “involved” with the Winds as my spiritual journey has taken me in Shamanic directions – which simply means I am more connected with nature in all of its wondrous forms. As I move on in life, I move with them…
Moving with the Winds…..a Gentle Transition into Later Life Living
I lived in my last house for 30 years. As a matter of fact, looking back, housing was always a critical factor in my life. My parents lost their house and since leaving them, where to live, how to afford it, how to feel secure and not scared I was going to lose it, has been a life priority. I have lived past lives where I lost my life in overwhelming circumstances, and I think this and my youthful helplessness in the face of my parents’ adult problems left me with a lasting impression of insecurity. In our modern society, as the middle class shrinks, housing is synonymous with security.
When my husband and I landed in our last house after almost losing the one before it and not affording the two before that well, I was ready to settle in. Ready to plant and stay. And so we did.
Things I have realized now that I have let go of the house after 30 years: We really did not fit in that house. We never did. It was a rescue house – an opportunity not to be homeless. A last resort, not a first choice. But we lived in it for 30 years, and it held all the challenges and times we endured and lived and grew through. It was always a financial struggle to meet all the needs of daily living, and I knew we could not stay into old age with the amount of mortgage we had left to pay. Nature has one lovely thing to tell us. Do not be afraid to let what is old die away. Our time with this house was about to die away.
I did not make the decision to leave; I made the decision to commit to leaving. The rest of me was still stuck in what if’s and can’t possibly. I was scared. But I began to take steps. I offered an action to the universe for it to act upon. If you take no action, nothing will happen. Once you take an action, events and energy can move and you will receive guidance through that movement.
Begin…..
There began a year of exploring options – typical human style trying to figure things out- where best to go. We tried to move close to one child, then another, feeling this was a good thing to do and encouraged by them as they tried to assist us. Nothing worked out in either case. In June we camped with our kids and grands at a campground in Plymouth, an area we love. As we drove through Carver to get home, I noticed a lot of nice smaller homes and told my agent (who I now had looking) to look there as well. By August we were looking at an option in Carver, September 1st we put in an offer, October 29th we closed and November 1st we were in our new home. In between those dates we embarked upon what spirit called in a reading: a “massive purge.”
Strangely, I had no compunction about leaving our property when the time finally came. Nothing pulled at me – nothing. All the work I’d done and money I’d spent on the old house did not hold me. They were good for their time, this was now. No regrets. “Show them steadfastness in motion” my September birth month We’Moon calendar said, “Move for those who’ve dug in their heels too deep for too long.”
Important lessons learned in moving:
Asking for help is crucial when moving. Assistence reduces resistance! Friends family and professionals are all a good source. For me, a professional organizer was a key ingredient for a less frightful and overwhelming experience. They are reliable and I did not feel I was imposing on them. Also they were objective and were there to help me, only me, make this move. Once you are ready to move, there are many who will help you.
Say goodbye to your old house, it has sheltered you through a lot. Thank it, ask it to let you go, and leave it with a blessing for the future and those who will inhabit it. I had a complete conversation going with ours. We had been there a long time and I knew this was probably its last family. Mosty likely it will be renovated or completely rebuilt. Houses need a peaceful ending.
Moving is about letting go….of a lot. It is about releasing attachments and looking forward.
Some things to let go of:
Old paperwork about old things needs to be let go of. Don’t carry a lot of weight and trauma surrounding past events in old files in your basement like I did. Get rid of it.
Many places will handle your bulk shredding. Joyfully release the documents (or use a cleansing breath) and their history as you drop them into the shredding slot. I was amazed at the stuff in my old files. That energy had been sitting in my cellar weighing me down. It was cathartic to let it go, not with bitterness, but with release and gratitude for what I learned and for how we made it through. This is a simple and powerful ceremony at the shredder!
You are not the keeper of your children’s past. Give it to them to keep or throw. Pictures, school records, scouting badges, graduations, plays, trips, recitals and weddings can all go. You don’t need to keep everything. Just a something you choose here and there. Make it fun and light for yourself and give your kids the gift of memories they can share with their own.
Pictures – you have too many. My organizer steered me to a book called the Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning and suggested I take pictures out of frames. My whole move would have cost much more with the bulk and weight of old framed pictures. You do not need their weight! Now some hand-picked ones are archived with notes for the kids to go through when we are gone. And a lot of them are just plain gone – redundant, unneeded, or shipped off to them to keep or throw.
Things! Good grief we have too many. Throwing usable stuff away is not a sin. It is not too much effort to get rid of stuff. Send it to recycling centers – they often pick up – and the junk people come and take it away. It just takes committing to and doing it. Make throwing away and letting go of old stuff a new habit – I’m working on that. Evidently, I did not feel I should throw anything out that might be usable. That, I have discovered, is not true.
The whole result was such a cleansing experience. We are in a new place minus so much unneeded history. A great way to look forward to the explorations of older age without being weighed down by the energy of old times and unneeded stuff…
Some other important steps for a successful move:
Consider whether this move entails a lifestyle change to be ready to face new options and opportunities that may open for you in a new place. Gently offer thanks for what has been as you turn toward what you may create now. These simple acts of giving thanks and letting go are another small ceremony that you perform to free up energy for transition and change.
Finally – have a vision of where you are going. This was a gift of spirit to me early on. I saw the new place, got the feel of it, could see us living comfortably in it, and found the new items needed to create a different environment for us as I let go of the old things. It has been enervating, demanding and rewarding building a new space for life in our older age. It has made me think about what I want to do and what is important to me now, at this stage. It has freed me to make different choices.
Use your spiritual strengths:
Asking your spiritual support to walk with you through your move, whatever that support may be, is of great importance – it can be as simple as calling upon the unknown strengths of your own inner being or it may be a real community effort from your faith community (I had one of those moves in my life too!) Just do so.
The winds have been of great benefit, help and importance for me during this move. I am a Wind Walker™ so I pay attention to the energy and motion of the winds. When I needed to let old things and memories go, I asked the winds to carry them away. Once I let go of them, they were gone with no regrets and with surprising ease, both inner and outer. The resources I needed appeared, people came to help me, and whoosh, like magic it was taken care of. Asking the winds for guidance and support during the move helped keep my thinking clear – it moved me outside of myself so I could see opportunities and solutions. Vayu, a wind of strength, showed up for me in October assisting me in my work and resolve as I purged. I had a constant source of energy for what had frozen me with fear only a few months before. During the whole move, I have had the sensation of being fueled by the winds at my back as I have gone through what seemed to be the impossible challenges of moving and the huge decisions that needed to be made. During one crisis point one of my far away grown daughters had flown in for a visit and was at my side. Her sensitive presence helped me sort through my thoughts and feelings to make a decision. A gentle assisting breeze.
Then we moved – and the first thing I noticed was the wind. It is windy here. Being a sailor in my youth on Cape Cod, I love it. There were 3 days of windstorm when we moved in – as if we were coming in on the winds like Mary Poppins. The house has some history that I knew needed to be cleared. Once again, the winds obliged by beating up a gale the night our roof was removed, ripping off the protective tarps and whistling across the rafterless exposed ceiling to clear the space for us – one of the most ferocious nights I have ever spent! You could almost feel the house sigh with relief once it was over. I did too!
The winds come by here often, speaking and whistling and bowing down the trees. Their movement is amazing, energizing and clearing. I speak with them often and try to listen well. I walk in them, bathe in them, listen to them like lullabies and roaring trains. The most present for me right now is the steady support of the northwest wind, strengthening resolve and supplying a constant source of energy for moving forward into the new.
If you want to learn more about bringing a relationship with the winds into your life visit thepracticalshaman.com. Learning to walk with the natural energies of the earth that surround us is the work of our own inner shaman, the one who remembers that we are not separate from nature, but an integral part of it. Walking, living, moving with nature will bring a richness and belonging to your life – one you have been longing for unknowingly. There is huge, beautiful energy available for you to tap into for life challenges and changes if you learn how to work with it rather than fear it.
Shed your Fear
And while I am here for a moment touching on fear, there is much fear over aging and growing old in our society today. There is nothing that says you have to be part of that. Take your fears and frailties to the elements, to the beautiful earth around you. Call upon the rivers and mountains for strength and wisdom. You can make powerful changes in your own life that will lift your spirit and strengthen you on your own journey into life’s wisdom years, or as my wolf prayer says: “Teach me how to face my fears with sincerity and discover my inner power.”