Journey Through an Open Door

Voices with the Tide
 Once again it is low tide at dawn and the cove floor shimmers near the shoreline in a rosy, golden glow.  As I walk through wet grass to my special place I hear the piliated woodpecker at work near his home in the large birches on the northern side of the cove.  The drumming of his distinct tap, tapping in the distance, is rhythmic counterpoint to the harmony of birdsong all around me.  I hear the voice of the loon in commuter flight between the nearby lake and the saltwater bay.  His distinctive voice at sunrise brings with it an echo across time, an ancient species surviving in the present and thriving in these quiet waters.  Peace reigns in this special place along the Maine coastline.
 Now there are stirrings amid the oaks along the shore and I know that soon I shall be enveloped in warm wind.  At low tide a stream funnels into the cove, and in its mouth a heron wades, patiently, diligently fishing for his breakfast.  The heron for me has long been a symbol of things-are-going-well and I am grateful for his presence on this first morning of summer.  He touches my heart as his graceful bearing pleases my eyes.  His energy touches my heart and I am instantly connected with the memory of a June morning... when another heron patiently fished in the low tide dawn and I heard the first lines of this book.
 The words came from a voice other than my own.  I listened and I noted them down.  And then there were directions, suggestions.  "We" would together collaborate on a book, a journey.  The broad subject would be intuition.  "The book is already written.  You have only to rediscover, and to read it, and note it down.  We will assist you constantly in the rediscovering, and in the writing.  We, your collaborators, are available to help you at all times."
 And who were these collaborators, these helpers?  And why were they suggesting this project?  Six months earlier I had made my first conscious connection with a spirit guide.  Although I had been aware – since childhood – of much help and protection, connection with unseen guidance was just now coming into focus for me.  I asked my guides how best to use my time and my talents in cooperation with them.  The "suggestions" as received on that June morning... though gently delivered, commanded my full attention.  I immediately began to rearrange the daily workings of my life to accommodate the development of "our project"...
 All that was required of me was focus, and a trust in the process of unfoldment...
 Within the guided process, I discovered that the puzzle pieces were my life.  I expressed great reluctance about the personal nature of "our project".  "But I've always been extremely quiet about my inner life – and even the outer adventures," I protested.  "I'm much better at listening to others than talking about myself."  They knew.
 "It is true, our dear Tritia.  But the time is now.  We have been watching you for a long time, and we assure you that you need no longer feel reluctance about your complete expression.  It is a time of correcting a long held cultural imbalance where the intuitive has been consistently subjugated by the rational.  A course correction is urgently needed.  It is a time of coming into balance.  Indeed there must be a coming into balance.  For the health of the planet Earth and all of her inhabitants, it is necessary that the longings of the heart and the intuitive knowings that call from one's soul be recognized as integral parts of each human's journey into wholeness.  And it is only through the wholeness of each of Mother Nature's children that there can exist a planet in wholeness."
 Although these words rang true to me, I did not understand why my own travels along the path of the intuitive could be helpful to others.
 "It serves as validation that the path of the heart, and of listening, is viable.  It serves to stir rememberings – often completely forgotten – of other ways of being which were still accessible in early childhood.  It helps to put the process of working with intuitive guidance, intuitive connection, in a context where connection can be seen as not separate from everyday experience but rather integral to it.  We assure you that your understanding of these reasons for our project will be enhanced as you move along, in steady increments, inside the work."
 I surrendered to a process which became a magical adventure.  Gradually I learned that remembering into the past is also remembering into the future.  My life took on an order and a synchronicity – consistently – beyond anything I had imagined possible.  Steadily my sense of connection with all beings grew to the point where I not only comprehended as a concept but also deeply felt the Mayan expression "In Lak'ech Yelir" which means "I am another yourself.  We are one."
 The warm breeze which early caressed me on this summer morning has evolved into a northwest wind which stirs my awareness of change, the accelerated pace of change.  With the inflow of the tide, the heron is now closer.  I celebrate his energy, as I also celebrate the sweet influence of the wind’s breath on this Maine morning...