Heeding The Call

Rule of thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.  -Steven Pressfield,  The War of Art

If you begin a spiritual, creative, or inner journey and don’t go all the way with where it wants to take you, then you may end up worse than when you began. We, writers and spiritual seekers often encounter adversity and resistance along the way, and somewhere in the middle of our effort it can become quite a challenge to stay with the journey. We are enthused or motivated in the beginning, and then something happens. It gets difficult. Resistance arises (as it always will): We get angry. We blame circumstances outside ourselves. We give up. We blame our past. We blame the conditions of our life. We never leave their soft-cushioned deck chair (on the ship) long enough. We give in to old familiar patterns rather than pushing onward through the tight, uncomfortable spots.

In many myths, “Refusing to Heed the Call” is a refusal to heed the call of the spiritual path—the person declines the adventure of personal or heroic transformation. Depending on the myth, sometimes the one who refuses suffers as a result, and perhaps it is the case that later he or she will choose to listen and follow the call. To decline the call completely means to live a life directed by the false self, wherein a great part of us remains unilluminated. But once we say yes to the call and experience personal initiation or awakening we find ourself responding differently, and therefore experiencing everything from a more awakened mind.

Because the patterns that keep us asleep, that keep us among the uninitiated, are deeply rooted, there will be deal-breakers along the way. Be ready to break deals with old, deeply rooted patterns and the pain stories that you carry. Be ready to break the deal with “cult time,” time spent following other’s paths rather than your own.

(-adapted from The Wheel of Initiation, Julie Tallard Johnson)  Join me and other writers or spiritual pilgrims at upcoming retreats and gatherings. Check out my home page for updates.