Taking the Heat out of Change

The heat and humidity of an Arizona summer is a big Change for all of us - and let's be honest it's not a pleasant change. We say things like “We have to beat the heat” or “Survive the summer.” The heat is something to escape, or get through unwillingly at best.

The Heat is a big Change and it is interesting but the words we use for Heat and Change are similar and reflect our resistance and our negative perceptions of both. So it got me to thinking that if I looked at the similarities between the Arizona Heat and Life Changes maybe I can learn a little about both and go through each event a little easier and a little wiser....

Okay so I think it's true that many of us view change in our lives as something to get through quickly and smoothly. And I think we all agree that we like it best when change is something that we are in charge of and have planned on occuring. If change or it's intensity is unexpected or difficult then like the heat we prefer to to get out of the kitchen! And we'd like to get out and quick! Of course, it is instinctual to want to avoid the unpleasant feelings of change (or the heat for that matter). We all are familiar with these feelings, it is the unsettled way it feels to go from a known and sometimes pleasant situation (like Spring) to an unknown situation (like wondering how hot it will get and how long it will be that hot). But sometimes even just anticipating the unpleasantness prevents us from cooperating with making it happen. We are experiencing the fear of the unknown.

What is important for me to remember is that Change and Heat are the two things that I can count on and they are both natural occurrences. Change in the seasons, however, is easier to understand as a natural event than changes in our lives. But did you know that over 3,000 years ago, the sages in China studied change and documented the process of change in a book that continues to live today called, Yijing (I Ching) or Change. It is a symbolic guide to help us manuever through the naturally occuring changes in our lives. All humans have been going through similar changes for a very long time finding them mysterious and learning from them. When we allow ourselves to go through change we are facing our fears of the unknown. When we face our fears we are able to life our lives more fully.

So if I am brave enough to live my life to the fullest it means I am feeling the wonderful intensity of joy, laughter, hope, peace and love. But I can't feel those wonderful feelings without also feeling the intensity of sadness, tears, disappointment, frustration and apathy.

The good news is that once I begin to accept change (and heat) as a natural occurrence the less likely I will be to get caught off guard, to blame others, to view it as wrong and so the less painful it will be.

The challenge then is to find the natural rhythm or flow of change in order to anticipate what will occur next. I can learn the Ways of Change from the Yijing. It's wisdom shows the rhythm of change through the seasons, the decades, the elements, the trigrams and the hexagrams. I can learn how to ride the heat waves of change without getting burned. And I can more easily accept what may appear to be unacceptable.

I can learn to stay calm, cool and collected by greeting change in positive ways; starting with meditation to build a solid core, and moving on to the expression of my thoughts and feelings in ways individually and uniquely meaningful. My thoughts and feelings about my life changes can be expressed with poetry, movement, or painting, through rituals, traditions and intentional living and witnessed and supported from the rich tapestry of a variety of relationships we nurture and grow throughout our lifetimes.

For more information about the individual sessions, a Yijing reading, and groups offered through the Creative Expression Department at Life Sculpting see our website; http://www.lifesculpting.biz/.