Question #15: Where did your latest completion begin?

Catching the Future

Amid the springtime budding, blooming and sprouting, comes a wave of endings. It’s graduation season.  With or without the pomp and flare, the beginning of a phase of schooling for thousands of students has found completion, and for many, it offers hope and momentum.  I share this optimism.  It is familiar.  I too am completing a phase of my continued education. 

I recall applying for the Mediation Certification program at the University of Utah a year ago.  As I read the requirements for this two-semester course, I was suddenly grateful for my bachelor’s degree in Communications, which until now hadn’t had an "official" opportunity to matter much. I wrote a letter, sent for my transcripts, paid the fee and submitted the application packet with enthusiasm, receiving the acceptance notice within a couple of months. 

I started to think about what my life would look like from a new perspective.

I imagined being in school again, and the options this certificate could offer, and sensed a distinctive energy of anticipation gather within me.  I could “feel” a different future taking shape, and suddenly I had an outline for the coming year.  This marked a beginning, and now I have caught up with its end.  I have met the once distant future and embrace its completion, and ask, “What is next?”

This ceremony of end is a license to begin, and it encourages me to continue seeking and celebrating and creating.

Each beginning has an ending, so celebrate I must.  Each present moment holds the paradox of the end and the beginning at once.  And thus it is…. we create beginnings and catch endings, and meet ourselves in the round.

Where did your latest completion begin?

 Let's skip a few rocks, and create some ripples...

~Asia

Question #14: When have you let spontaneity lead the way?

The Unplanned Beauty of the Unplanned

ser·en·dip·i·ty

ˌserənˈdipədē/

noun

1.    the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

synonyms:

(happy) chance, (happy) accident, fluke;  luck, good luck, good fortune,fortuity, providence;  happy coincidence "the consequence of serendipity is sometimes a brilliant discovery"

I think surprises are pretty cool.  I like the raw, transparency it taps into.  Surprises are often disarming and have the potential to reveal things with accuracy and authenticity, and that can be very intimidating.  And yet, it’s a predictable part of life. 

We should expect to be surprised.

Perhaps a hope or idea created space for an unplanned experience to come into your life.  Maybe a friend or lover created an unexpected event.  Maybe you're the focus of 'The Fates' and everything lined up for you.    All without your active input. 

I’m intrigued by the unexpected events that show up for me, and how they open the door to spontaneity.  Whether welcome or not, these unforeseen moments offer me a chance to choose how I will respond.  

Admittedly, I haven’t always been graceful or even grateful when I’ve been surprised.  There are plenty of times I’ve wished for a rewind so I could feel more comfortable and poised with my response, and yet even my dissatisfaction is a gift.  It captures my attention and motivates me to evaluate, reframe and reform.  And I suppose it will always be that way.  My evolution guarantees it.  

I’ve found the more these unplanned events occur the better I receive.  

In my opinion, it’s courageous to greet the unplanned and treat it as a welcome friend.  And why not?  Why not release the skepticism and jadedness that comes from unfulfilled promises and controlled organization?  Why not run with the serendipity of the unplanned and smile at coincidence?  Why not let magic weigh in and tilt your life a bit?   

I think it’s beautiful.   

When have you let spontaneity lead the way?

 Let's skip a few rocks, and create some ripples...

~Asia