About being off your path

So I wanted to blog about what happens when you wander off the path. I have been wandering lately. A little deeper into the woods each day as I go straight for my computer every morning. Skip journaling. Put off my walk. Lock myself up in a square room and forget that living and experiencing is why I am here.

And I feel the affects of that wandering. Yuck. I'm not as energetic. Not as happy. Just kind of back in the rut that my egoic self falls into when I allow it to take the wheel. If you find yourself getting back into old habits, old mindsets, be gentle with yourself, but do steer back onto the path.

Now that I am more aware, I "feel" subtle changes in myself more. But it's amazing how different you can feel when you aren't honoring your spirit and your purpose. Not that I have figured out my passion or purpose yet, but suffice it to say, I'm further along than I was.

I just started reading Vein of Gold by Julie Cameron. She wrote The Artist's Way. And one of the things she says that resonated with me was to walk every day. To take 20 minutes and free up your creative soul. Walking can be meditative. Plenty of spiritual practices that involve walking over the centuries. It re-connects us to nature, to our sense of sight, touch, smell...and it can actually unstick you from mind blocks or indecision.

So here I go, trying to get back on my path. Taking my 20 minute walk each day. No excuses. And pushing back from the computer for breaks. Breathing. Do not forget your breathing. Are you taking short, shallow breaths? Then relax. Sit back for just a few seconds and take some deep breaths. Re-oxygenate. And then appreciate. Appreciate your home. Your cat that sits in your lap and whose purring is like meditative chanting for the soul. Being thankful, as my friend Mamie reminded me the other day, is a sure way back onto the path.

See how different you begin to feel again. You'd think we would not stray so much when we feel so much better on our path. "We're only human, Laura," I remind myself. "We're only human."