16 May 2008

Spiritual Hiatus ~ Not on Purpose

Robert Fulghum once said, "If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience."

How true that statement is. Having been forced into virtual darkness, not having a computer for about six weeks, I realized that it was extremely inconvenient and the timing sucked ~ yet, it could not have been more perfectly timed. I was literally forced into a hiatus that somehow turned into a spiritual time out. Now this could very well be because I live my life by outrageously spiritual tenets anyway. But I don't think it was that easy.

For anyone who really knows me ~ and only the Divine has that privilege, or burden, I am glued to my online work. It is one of my passions. Yet, it was strangely and unceremoniously ripped from me with no notice and no chance for backup. Another words, I had to surrender and let go. Gasp!

The lovely and shocking thing for me was, I thoroughly enjoyed the hiatus. It was surprisingly peaceful and I didn't have a major freak-out. I did have a couple of minor ones, though. I had to wait for new hardware for my laptop, so all I could do was wait. And wait some more! But in the waiting, I remained silent and still. It was like a six week artist date. I journaled, prayed, meditated, questioned, and waited some more.

I had plenty of offline activities in the interim, yet they contributed to the retreat time. Though this was a spiritual hiatus that did not happen on purpose, it should have. Then, would it have had the same impact? I suspect not.

So, in addition to my weekly artist dates, I will schedule in monthly spiritual retreat days. What's the difference, you may ask? The intensity. My artist dates last about three to four hours each week. The retreat will be an entire twenty-four hours of no phones, no emails, no Internet, no blogging (egads!), no nothing! It is in the silence that the Divine and I meet.

I have fallen in love with the feeling of letting things go. And you want to know something? Nothing fell apart! The sky is still where it always was. So I encourage you to do something special for your inner spirit ~ take a spiritual hiatus, on purpose!

So, glad to be back home where I belong!
Coach Carolyn

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Everything in life happens for a reason. It seems like this was the appropriate time to bring you closer to the Lord. Walk in his love. Nice to have you back at the PCC as well.