Over the weekend I experienced a lifetime first: I saw a trilogy in a movie theatre. I called my parents as I was getting ready to go and my mother was appalled that I would willfully sign myself up for 6 hours of viewership. Now, I have to admit this wasn’t my idea, it was my boyfriend’s big plan. Yet I found myself deeply drawn into the offerings of both escapism and a chance to commit. If done well, genuinely engaging commitment and achieving something is my favorite high.
I prepared as though readying my body for a marathon. This began by strategically caffeinating just enough in the morning so I could re-caffeinate midway through the movies. I made Chris eat a salad with me for breakfast, (incorrectly) assuming we’d consume copious amounts of popcorn. I took Joey for an extra long walk, knowing she would be alone for longer than usual (although I’m fully aware lots of pets are left alone everyday). An hour before we left, I threw my yoga mat on the floor to stretch out my lower back and hamstrings, in an effort to avoid extreme stiffness.
We settled into our theatre seats just as the first movie began: Before Sunrise with Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke. I thought I had already seen it but as the plot progressed, I realized I’d only caught snippets over the years. I was enchanted by the first installment and left speechless by the middle child, Before Sunset. The last in line, Before Midnight, is the most heart wrenching. We watch the couple that we know so well, the same couple that fell in love over the course of an evening, come to the brink of a now 20 year relationship in the span of just a few hours.
Throughout the trilogy, you come to love a pair of imperfect people through their winding dialogue. The final film is so devastating because you witness a breakdown in the area we have seen them revel in most: communication.
It’s painful to see them exchange words but not receive any information. Everyone knows what it feels like to have their words left on the floor, trampled by a stampede of someone else’s thoughts. I wanted to shout at the screen, Listen! Listen!
It’s both sad and funny how everything comes down to communication. We even study how to become effective communicators, looking for ways to better exchange ideas with people.
This focus lands almost exclusively on the communication dynamic between human and human. Body language, text threads, PSAs. But not to be ignored is the constant conversation between the individual and the cosmos.
This ever-flowing discussion occurs whether or not we pay it attention. Our side of the conversation is found in current of our actions, the way we speak to ourselves when no one is watching. It is shaped by the things we say yes to and the times we say no. Indecision poses questions and confidence signals trust. Both are necessary for the expansion of dialogue.
This is the most honest conversation we will ever have. It is inherent within our spirit and does not cease when we retire our current physical state. If anything, this is when things really get exciting, as less gets lost in translation between eternal and mortal planes.
Deciphering cosmic messages can feel impossible. The mind can easily scramble transmissions from the eternal realms. But we cannot give into the notion of a vacuum style universe. In any dimension, a successful conversation needs engagement from both parties. Within each day there are countless nods from the eternal, we only need to shift our awareness to perceive them.
Right now, this conversation with the eternal is my most important practice. It is a quiet but excited energy guided by curiosity. Where do I want this trajectory to land? What do I wish to see along the path? It’s about keeping things open for the most divine interpretation. Seeing what is ready to show itself.
Active listening is the butter to the bread of effective communication.
Little mindful rituals place me in a sacred mindset. They align me with the transcendent nature of the expansive present. Contemplation is one way to describe it. Focus without a direct line of thought. Contemplation disrupts the cyclical thoughts that usually follow well worn neural pathways. Contemplation looks upon the world with a gentle gaze.
By consciously allowing, we become aware of the ways in which the universe is whispering. Sometimes it speaks at full volume and the directions are very clear.
Whatever the universe’s delivery style, I’m here for the whole conversation.
xx
James
p.s.
I’m opening the books for Personalized Meditations on the 15th.
If you’d like to put your name on the waitlist, you’ll find it here.