It is the first day of another year. The open road awaits. Where shall I wander this year? My dream board is a blank canvas. What do I desire? What will shape the land of my dreams this year? Silence and peace prevail. Contentment and abundance surround me. Love warms my heart like the soft steady glow of a never-ending flame. I feel fortunate and blessed, am grateful and alive. So where to next?
‘Inwards, go inwards’ I hear. Spirit is calling me home. ‘Rest, meditate and reflect. Be guided’ is the message. And so, as I look at my blank dream board I feel that instead of me setting the pace with images of where and what, this year I shall be like an open book. A blank, open book.
I am reminded of a yoga class I attended many years ago, and of a beautiful meditation delivered during the class. As I lay on the cool floor overlooking the ocean and listening to the waves, I let myself be guided on a visualisation. I found myself at the foot of a set of weathered stone steps. As I began to climb I noted they were smooth, the edges softened with years of use. At the top of the steps stood a heavy door made from oak and adorned with heavy iron decorative hinges. Taking the door handle I pushed through the entrance and found myself standing in a large circular room. Rows upon rows of ancient scripts and books sat upon shelves that spiraled high above me. I walked to the centre of the room and was left to find a book with my name on it. Intuitively my eyes were drawn above me to a large thick leather bound book. On the spine of the book my name sparkled and shone. As I raised my hand the book lifted itself from the shelf and slowly came to rest on a desk in front of me. The cover of the book also bore my name, written in old script embossed in the leather. My fingers traced my name wondering what I would find written inside. As I opened the first page I wasn’t too surprised to find it blank, but as I moved from page to page I began to panic. Every single page was blank! What did this mean? I flicked from page to page, and back again. Nothing! With that, I was told it was time to close our books and return them to the space from where they had come, exit through the doorway, descend the steps, and return to where we lay on our yoga mats. As soon as the class had finished I rushed to ask my friend if her book had writing inside. When she told me that it had, pages and pages of writing, I was a bit unsettled. What did it all mean?
I came to understand I was being shown that my life was a blank canvas. A new story was waiting to be written. As Vladimir Nabokov wrote, “The pages are still blank but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible.” This quote has come to be one of my favourites. At times when I have not known what to do next, or which way to turn, I have remembered this quote and just let go. Instead of trying to dictate a direction to go in, I have simply let the directions appear on the seemingly blank pages before me.
So, as I ease into 2017 I have already set aside any notions of resolution setting. I am instead an open book. I am surrendering my all to the Divine. I will believe in myself and my inner compass which I know and trust to be Divinely guided and directed towards my highest good. And I know that in doing just that, I will be living the best version of me in 2017. What a beautiful place to wander.