Possibilities in partnership with the Universe

     

     Gary Zukav, author of Seat of the Soul, published a new book in 2011 called Spiritual Partnership: The Journey to Authentic Power. Although I haven’t read to book, I stumbled across a few excerpts from it this week online. Zukav defines spiritual partnership as a “partnership between equals for the purpose of spiritual growth”. Seems pretty straightforward, but when I sat with it in relation to my partnership with the Universe the word “equal” threw me.

    I am one little pea brained human. The Universe is infinitely vast, deep and sees things I can’t even imagine. How can that be a relationship between equals? The first thing I got hung up on was the difference in size. Me, small. Universe, huge. When I asked myself if the size discrepancy really mattered…maybe it doesn’t.

    I am a piece of the Universe, a part of the larger whole. The way an aspect of something larger stands in relation to the whole triggered me thinking about hormones.

    Hormones are a type signaling molecules or chemical messengers. They use the bloodstream to travel to various organs where they regulate physiology and behavior. There are tons of hormones in the human body. As they are tiny molecules, I haven’t seen one.

     I have experienced how powerful hormones can be. Menopause was multi-year experience of having hormones run my life. Over and over those tiny molecules that ran amok in my body pushed me to cry at commercials and react to a broken shoelace as though it were the end of the world. (Funny now, it was not at the time.)

     Given that experience, how can I say that any smaller part of a larger whole is insignificant or unable to affect what it’s part of?  So the size difference between me and the Universe is really an issue of perception on my part. Me and the Universe as equals…I’m not there yet but open to moving that direction.

     The other aspects of partnership that feel relevant to my relationship with the Universe are respect, trust, give and take and ownership. Respect and trust come with time and getting to know someone. What I really want is a deeper friendship with the Universe. I know how to grow a friendship. When I’m getting to know someone new I spend with them, ask questions and do things with them.

    That brought up an image that made me smile. Me inviting the Universe out for coffee…which looked like me walking into my favorite coffee shop with this vast cloud of everything following me. Hah!  My connection with the Universe is an inside job. I find that place by going inward. So creating a stronger friendship with the Universe means me making more space in my life to step away from clients, distractions and doing.

    The give and take thing brought up some resistance for me. Give and take is really about responsiveness. In a friendship I respond to what my friend does and he responds to what I do. Again, seems pretty straightforward. But when I looked at where my resistance came up, I picked up a sneaky bit of control on my part.

    When I ask a friend to help me with something, I often talk myself into thinking I know what she is going to say and do before I ask. So there’s an aspect of predictability. In an exchange with the Universe, I have no idea how it’s going to respond…or do I?

    Even in my friendships with other people, my ideas about how someone is going to respond are just possibilities or stories. If I run with that and create an expectation I’ve succumbed to the illusion of control. Although because I’m human and my friend is also human I do have some idea of what her range of possible responses could be. But I really don’t know which response she’ll choose.

   In a partnership with the Universe I have a partner whose vision is infinitely larger than mine. This makes it much harder to throw my energy behind any story my brain makes up about what might happen. I can see a dozen possibilities. The Universe sees a few billion. Often the Universe responds with something that was so far off my radar I hadn’t imagined it.

    The Universe does respond to me. I’ve experienced that over and over for years. But how well do I respond to the Universe? Sometimes I’m pretty good about that. Other times not so much. I can get pretty attached to my idea of how something “should” come out. When I trap myself in that attachment I’m resistant to changing directions and my vision narrows. It’s harder for me to see what’s going on. I miss the little “hey look over here” hints the Universe sends me. There usually are hints. When I don’t see the hint, that’s where trust comes in.

    Any partnership whether it’s a friendship, business partnership or a romantic partnership involves both joint and individual ownership. I’m responsible for my thoughts choices and actions. My partner is responsible for her thoughts, choices and actions. There are things that we share responsibility for.

   In the past couple months I’ve overheard snippets of conversation around “the Universe did that.” The speakers tone implied that because the Universe took care of something s/he wasn’t responsible for any part of it. Hearing those comments shifted my awareness around how often I’ve done the same thing.

    Yes often the way the Universe responds is both startling and surprising. What comes out of that partnership is an act of co-creation. My thoughts, intentions and actions still play a part in what happens even if the result is something I didn’t foresee.

    My partnership with the Universe works better if I stay fluid and in the moment.  That partnership is showing me how to be more fluid in my other relationships.