Spooktober 3

In Solitude’s Firm Embrace, My Soul Speaks & My Heart Listens

And I do my best to take copious notes and sing your praises

Solitude is creativity’s best friend, and solitude is refreshment for our souls. ~ Naomi Judd

19 months ago COVID hit us like a ton of bricks.

Here in the SF Bay Area, we started sheltering-in-place on March 17 of 2020.

I remember that so well mainly because we had a nasty scene at my church the day before. We had to suspend a member who came to the building yelling and pounding to reclaim things he’d given or loaned us.

We were too scared to open the door without backups. He and we both ended up calling the police. They were very helpful and his things were passed to him peacefully.

TMI, yes, and too much drama.

The only drama I want in my life is on the pages I write.

You could say that’s grist for my mill. Sure. I’ll take it. After all, I’m writing about it now.

But at what price? How many hours of prayer, mediation, and spiritual counseling did it take before I was even in a position to write, right?

All that to say, shelter in place for the foreseeable future? Yes, please! Thank you so much!

When the world is too much with me, I crave and love me my solitude!

Ask my roommate. She’ll tell you I am ensconced here at my computer for hours on end, wandering into the kitchen for very brief intervals for more tea or Cafe Roma.

I come up for air as the sun sets, the day cools, and I’m ready for my walk.

If I meet with folks, it’s on Zoom.

It took some getting used to but it has so many advantages. No one has to commute. We don’t have to drive nasty fossil fuel-based cars, sit in traffic, risk accidents, or use up valuable creative time getting there. It’s so much safer and efficient.

Pulse I don’t have to dress or show up on camera. That means I can meet you in my jammies without you even knowing. If I need to get up and stretch, which is always, that can happen, too.

I even do my Zumba on Zoom. In the privacy of my own home. So if I need to stop and catch my breath, run and grab more water, or relieve myself, I can, readily.

Do I miss the company and culture of our Emeryville Senior Center? Yes, it’s a special place. But I:m getting spoiled with the flexibility and increased solitude not commuting blesses me with.

Solitude fosters my creativity.

I need peace and quiet to hear myself think. And download input from my Muse. She’s softspoken and shy. And needs time to unfurl her wings, fly in my direction, and drop her nuggets of creative gold onto my page.

She likes the dawning of the day when my mind is still half asleep. It’s that alpha wave brain state that allows a more direct connection with her vibratory energy. With direct access to my subconscious mind, those moments are downright telepathic. Maybe that’s where she hangs out the rest of the time.

She may return in sunset softness, as the sky pinkens and closes in for a celestial hug before dark. There’s again space for the silence of solitude — the space I’m writing this in now.

Even the birds are silent. I hear my own breath. It’s lovely and wants to stretch out on the page and show off for you. I think I’ll let it.

Sorry for getting all meta on you. Just my muse peaking through.

Sometimes solitude is one of the most beautiful things on earth ~Charles Bukowski

Of course, I’m never really alone.

Not only do I have more me time, and creative time, I have more God time!

Even though I believe in Oneness and that God lives, moves, and has It’s beingness in me just as I live, move, and have my beingness in God, we also have a relationship.

An I-Thou, thank you, Martin Buber, type relationship.

This reminds me of a talk by one of my favorite Unity ministers, Rev. DeeAnn Weir Morency about the three faces of God. We have God the omnipresent Great Cosmos God. We have the indwelling God inside us and one with us. Our co-creative nature.

And we have God, the Divine Beloved.

This is the relationship I’ve begun to cultivate during COVID.

We have almost daily conversations.

In my Inner Listening process, I ask questions, and Spirit answers.

Questions like how to make more time for self-care, and how to set stronger boundaries. But always, always, the open-ended, what else would You have me know?

Last time I asked that here’s what came through from my Higher Power who speaks and responds in the plural:

You may just need to open up and have a good cry. Lots of pressure on you and some fears are up. Some scary stuff with your mom with no easy answers. We know it’s hard and you know we’re here for you. Allow us to comfort you even as you comfort yourself as well.

Don’t be afraid to just wail….you will feel better.

That feels so just right. Pressure builds up, which I experience as stress. Where’s the pressure relief valve? Sometimes it’s through my tears. After all, they clean toxins from my body. I don’t allow them to flow nearly often enough.

But once I do, I always feel better. Always. And definitely did that day.

In solitude is healing. Speak to your soul. Listen to your heart. Sometimes in the absence of noise, we find the answers. ~Dodinsky

Thank you, Diana C., for these spooky Spooktober prompts!

Marilyn Flower writes political humor and satire to delight socially and spiritually conscious folks. She’s the author of Creative Blogging: Ninja Writers Guide to Character Development and Bucket Listers, Get Your Brave On: How to Do the Thing You’re ‘Too Old’ & ‘Too Scared’ to Do. Clowning and improvisation strengthen her resolve during these crazy times. Stay in touch!