If only. . . .lol.
I'm reading a book about twelve archetypes of the hero's journey. It's a fascinating read, and I am processing through the first archetype right now. . . . The Innocent. This is the part of our human psyche that is first developed, that part of our collective experience that has need for safe environments where unconditional love and acceptance create peace and harmony for all. It's an archetypal idyllic environment, so it doesn't exist in the real world, but that fact doesn't change the basic human need to experience it. . . . or long for it.
Many grew up with this type of idyllic home life, but for others it's a life journey to find or create this for ourselves. But what I think is most amazing about this process, actually, is precisely how even if we've never really experienced that kind of environment for ourselves, we still have the capacity to believe in its possibility. . . .and experience such an undying faith in its existence. Some may call it "utopia" or "paradise." Others find it in the realities of "Heaven." But regardless where we find it as individuals, the point is that we believe in and have undying faith in the reality of its existence, even if we've never really experienced it ourselves.
This single fact of human experience is evidence enough for me to believe in the existence of a Heaven where God embraces everyone equally with unconditional love and acceptance. I may not understand exactly how that all works, but I have absolute faith that Heaven and God exist, because I can not have a thought that is outside of God or what God has the capacity to create.
There are twelve archetypes to be processed through in this book, so I have roughly structured out the course of my year as doing some depth work with each archetype and apply it to my life to see what emerges. I love that the Innocent's needs are about environments, because it's also a major life theme for me right now, so it's a perfect tool for some process projection.
Bernie Siegel uses this concept of the safe place filled with unconditional love and acceptance in his guided imageries for exceptional cancer patients. In fact, it's the cornerstone of his healing-centered guided-imagery meditations, only he calls this safe place "your corner of the universe." And one of the first tasks is done as he guides the listener to create is this "perfect" place in there universe where we are surrounded by unconditional love and warm beauty, that place where healing on the spiritual level can be achieved.
With God, all things are possible.
The part of the world where I have control over how I create my corner of the universe is in the spaces I create, whether that be my home, or my office, or my studio. Clients used to tell me that my office felt like a prayer closet, which was the most amazing compliment for me, personally. Maybe I have a higher or more activated need for a space where I can feel safe and accepted unconditionally, but that fact (if it is one) is irrelevent, really. I am human, so I was born with an inherent need to feel safe, to trust, to feel loved and accepted unconditionally, and to believe in the possibility that life can always be better.
These are the gifts of The Innocent.
So my focus this month is on that primal experience of innocence with which we are all born, and on the continued creation of that safe place where I am unconditionally loved and accepted. My home is the place where I have the most control over how I create it, but it's not just a physical creation, as much as it is a spiritual creation, so I will also continue to seek God in all things and all people, as that's where I have always found the unconditional love and acceptance I need.
And maybe it's not quite as simple as clicking my heels together three times while reciting the magic words, but I do believe that the "Home" of God can be found where ever we are. . . .when ever we ask.. . .so click on, little spirit warrior. . . .click on.