Exercise: New Life
Admit. Assume. Because. Believe. Could. Doubt. End. Expect. Faith. Forget. Forgive. Guilt. How. It. Mercy. Pest. Promise. Should. Sorry. Storm. Them. Us. Waste. We. Weed. Neither these words nor the concepts for which they stand appear in the Indian language; they are the White man's import to the New World, the newcomer's contribution to the vocabulary of the man he called Indian. Truly, the parent Indian families possessed neither these terms nor their equivalents.
The American Indian, even before Columbus, was the remnant of a very old race in its final stage, a race that had attained perhaps the highest working concept of individualism ever practiced. Neither the word "free" nor any corresponding term occurs in the root language, in the primal concept; there never was anything for the Indian to free himself from. His was the spirit not seeking truth but holding on to truth. And his was the mind nourished on choice. Whatever he needed to know, nature sooner or later revealed to him. And that which he desired to know - the best way to achieve his maximum spiritual potential - was the only mystery he chose to investigate.
His approach to this mystery was never that of a mystic; he never pursued psychic powers but only his own spiritual growth. His method involved neither stimulants nor hypnosis; the solitude and starve of a vision-quest was a matter or uninterrupted concentration relative to the path he already intended to follow.
He recognized his spirit - his familiar voice - as a truth-bearer that told him what to do, never what not to do; his reasoning mind made the choice to act or not to act.
His view was never that of the altruist; he was a trader in spiritual values, which he demonstrated not by what he gave but to whom he gave and why.
The rhetorical was the only form of questioning the Indian used; he never answered to anyone but himself, never answered for anyone but himself. He conjugates the verb "think" in the first person singular only; he never presumes.
-Taken From “Hanto Yo” by Ruth Beebe Hill
Awareness: New Life
Imagine you have just been born, you have an opportunity to live this life and make it up however you want. You can bring into this day those things that inspire you. You can be who you want to be and express what is in your heart. This is the possibility.
We come into the world as a unique being unshaped by the world, no concepts or culture. In our first life we are taught and indoctrinated into culture. We were told what to dream and how to dream it.
Give yourself two days to live exactly the way you want. You won’t be able to. You will run into blocks or challenges in living this way. Moving through the blocks and challenges will be the work you do in this process, and in life as you go forward.
To be able to grow and discover these blocks we must create a story or feeling that guides us. At this beginning the source for this guidance are those simple child-like feelings.
Purposes:
To use my Inner-Knowing to get clear about how I want to be in this experience.
Exercise: New Life
Find a spot where you feel safe and comfortable.
Sit with yourself for one full minute. Clear your mind, relax and get present.
Take out your journal.
Take 5 minutes. Picture yourself in the world fresh and new. Really let yourself get into it. You are in a playground, kids and adults around. It is safe, you won’t be rejected, and there is nothing to fear. You are free to be exactly who you want to be. Others will respond to you and support your picture. Every activity and possibility is represented in this playground.
In your picture what do you see yourself doing? How are you feeling? (Excited, free, creative, loving, energetic, caring, un-self-conscious, expressed, light, happy, joyful)
What is your relationship with other people? Are you leading, gathering people, playing by yourself, following, supporting, comforting, building, telling stories, playing games, running, dancing, yelling, singing, drawing, etc.?
If you were to take this feeling and apply it to the next 2 days, what might that look like?
What blocks might you encounter?
“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”