Living a 360 life

It was during morning prayers that I walked out of the sanctuary onto the back porch that is surrounded by evergreens and began to dance. Not just standing in place moving my feet to the rhythm dancing, or swaying to the music dancing. No. This was whirling and twirling, spinning and dipping with my prayer shawl held wide and high like eagle wings. I felt like an Eagle Dancer, though I doubt I looked that elegant. Perhaps I looked more like a whirling dervish, but not as well dressed. In the moment I did not care, I was ecstatically dancing the prayers, opening my heart and spirit to the universe.

While the cultural rhythms and prayers are different, the movements seem to echo each other. We open ourselves to the north, the south, the east that west, the sky, the ground, and our center. Repeating this motion felt like a meditation, and in some ways felt like a message.  I was telling the universe that my spirit is ready to live a 360 life, open to a world without walls. Maybe that is the world that birthed these dances. Worlds without walls that did not require us to diagram and schedule our daily activities to build a work-life balance.

Was this, at least in part, the purpose of these dances, setting an agreement between spirit and universe? If so, then spiritual growth is about letting our hearts guide us without fear through a world of possibilities. Our power is not based in titles and timelines, but in choice, responses, experiences and adventures. We can cease the stress of choosing between directions and paths and choose openness.

What if I choose to say yes to all that is in me? Artist? Yes! Writer? Yes! Futurist? Yes. Dancer? Yes. Someone who lives large? Yes. Philanthropist? Yes. Kind and loving and quiet and powerful and introspective and wise? Oh yes.

What is a 360 life? I means having an open heart and an open mind. It means I can try many things and choose what I want and what I do not want. Imagine standing atop a mesa with views in all directions and reaching your arms to the wind, stripping off the trappings and acquisitions that make possible a life bound by walls, closed doors, and windows that no longer open.

This is what I call a renaissance of spirit, an opening of our hearts to the possibilities of the world beyond the self-imposed blockades we call safety. We put our trust in walls and locks to keep us safe, perhaps even putting chains around our spirit. But even fortresses can be breached by attacking forces. When we choose to invest our energy in the illusion of control and safety, we turn away from opportunity and the best that life has to offer.

Of course live in a home and feel safe. Of course create a life of financial security and well-being. And of course build a community of friends and family. Just remember that your soul was born to be free.