Q: So, I am currently watching a wasp that is trapped between my screen and window pane, frantically trying to get back outside and I think this is how it must be for our spirit guides; they can see our path to freedom if only we would look in a certain direction. However, I am also toying with the idea of killing it because I find wasps to be bothersome.
A: Hah! This will probably be one of the best columns I have ever written, due to its refreshing viewpoint. Thank you for that. It seems to me that your question has two distinct thoughts: are we acting as the wasps act, caught between the glass, or is your desire to kill the wasp reflecting your desire to get the symbolically trapped creature out of your field of consciousness. Or… could it be a little of both? Let’s walk down the path of enquired enlightenment for a while, shall we?
Let’s assume first that we are the wasps, caught between the two glasses of the different worlds, feeling confined, maybe sensing worlds beyond the cold, solid invisibleness, but unable to do anything about our current limited situation. How in the world do we, as wasps, free ourselves from our prisons?
I think it is true that no matter the level of our awareness, we ALL are able to sense something beyond what we can perceive with our ‘normal’ senses. We meet someone and feel the hairs on the back our neck stand up, we meet someone else and we want to be near them for no discernible reason. People come to mind, then call us within five minutes. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that what we call ‘this’ reality is only a drop in the bucket, compared to all that is out ‘there’. So like the trapped wasp, your reality is that tiny space between the panes. What a pain.
Dreams are one way of experiencing life outside of the window, for when we dream we are larger than our conscious minds, we are freer to travel through the different planes of existence, and we use more of our brains, which I think is actually the spiritual crank that will open our windows for us, if we can learn to work with them, rather than let them run US. It might be helpful to think of our brain as a powerful thoroughbred horse. It is untrained, it can be very dangerous to try to ride it, because it is unpredictable and may run away with us, holding desperately to its mane to keep from falling off and hurting ourselves. But if we work with it, make friends with it, get to know it and trust it, and let it get the chance to trust us, then it becomes a matter of teamwork and cooperation. A trained mind, like a trained thoroughbred, can carry us to many wonderful places.
One way to work with our minds is through meditation and creative visualization. Meditation is usually done in silence, and gives us the chance just to BE with ourselves. Creative visualization is usually accomplished through someone leading us through a series of meditations or mental scenarios in which we learn more about ourselves. At the very least, it may be helpful to remember that we are NOT our minds – we are separate from our minds, and they don’t control us. Believing that may be just the crack we need to slip through to the big Outdoors. Try some of the above suggestions and see if they don’t make some sense to you.
In regards to the second part of your question, I’d like to combine the notion that our spirit guides do indeed have a broader picture of our paths, so it would behoove us to get to know them better, and also that doing that would help us feel less frustrated with ourselves, less like wanting to kill off that helpless and clueless part of ourselves. I remember when I first became interested in this Work, which was in the mid 1980’s. Sitting beside the lake writing, I asked a simple question: Is anybody there? I hadn’t really expected anyone to answer, yet I felt a presence as I began answering my own question. I felt expanded, excited, as if a light were coming on in my life, allowing me to see a little further out into the darkness. I liked it. A lot. From time to time over the years I’ve forgotten that I’ve got that connection, and those are the times that I’ve gotten so frustrated I’ve wanted to scream. I’m sure some of those times I actually DID scream. Understandable. But unnecessary. Really.
I think the reason we get so frustrated is that there’s a part of us that KNOWS better. That more enlightened part of us knows we can get help, knows we can get encouragement and support if we only open to it, trust it, believe it, and work with it. In the beginning it can be kind of like, “I’m sure I’m just making all this stuff up,” so it can be difficult to trust the new feelings, the new awarenesses. But keep at it. Your spirit guides, Higher Self, God, angels, ascended masters, whatever you call all of those who are a part of your Team, who love you and support you and are with you this time around, they are ALWAYS WITH YOU. Again, this is something I know beyond a shadow of a doubt (and there are not a heck of a lot of things I know for sure). You tell me, “I ask them for help. I call to them but I can’t hear them.” So I suggest asking for a sign so you’ll know they’re there for you, and that they’re real. The first time I suggested this to a client, I decided to try it for myself. I didn’t really need PHYSICAL verification, because I trust they’re there, but I thought it would be a fun exercise. I couldn’t wait – I was sure it would be some super-cool and exotic thing that would happen to me. I asked, then waited. And felt what felt like a huge hand on my right leg. Yup. That was it. Super, wasn’t it? So don’t be surprised if you notice something subtle like a particular smell, or a noise in the wall, or a feeling come over you, to signal the presence of your Helpers.
Once you have made the Connection, that could/should lessen your anxiety and frustration with anything that may occur in your ‘regular’ life. If I have a problem, the first thing I do is what I call ‘take it up to the higher level’ and see it from that broader perspective. Things are never as they appear down here, and I always get some valuable advice and information as to how to proceed and understand my current situation. You see? I am not a wasp; in truth, I never was. Neither are you. You may FEEL waspish from time to time, but all you need to remember is that if you feel trapped, YOU have the power to open the window and free yourself. There’s a big, beautiful world out there, and there’s no need whatsoever to remain where you are, if it’s not where you want to be. The sky’s the limit, so fly. It’s who you really are, and what you were born to do.