Living In The Freshest Chamber Of The Heart
Our ability to find something to love, and to love again for the first time depends greatly on how we resolve and integrate where we've been before. A great model for us exists in the chambered nautilus, an exquisite shell creature that lives along the ocean floor. The nautilus is a deep-sea form of life that inches like a soft man in a hard shell finding his prayers along the bottom. Over time it builds a spiral shell, but always lives in the newest chamber.
The other chambers, they say, contain a gas or liquid that helps the nautilus control its buoyancy. Even here, a mute lesson in how to use the past: live in the most recent chamber and use the others to stay afloat.
Can we, in this way, build strong chambers for our traumas: not living there, but breaking our past down till it is fluid enough to lose most of its weight? Can we internalize where we've been enough to know that we are no longer living there? When we can, life will seem lighter.
It is not by accident that the nautilus turns its slow digestion of the bottom into a body that can float. It tells us that only time can put the past in perspective, and only when the past is behind us, and not before us, can we open enough and empty enough to truly feel what is about to happen. Only by living in the freshest chamber of the heart can we love again and again for the first time.
From the 'Book of Awakening'.
SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: What does living in the freshest chamber of the heart mean to you? Can you share a personal story of a time you inhabited the freshest chamber of your heart while using the other chambers of the past to stay afloat? What helps you live in the freshest chamber of your heart?
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9 Past Reflections
On Feb 23, 2018 N MOHAN wrote :
Time is a big stepping stone , based on which each step of our ladder of life is built. We move ahead and sometimes look back to see our progress, especially spiritual. I opine it’s impossible is to forget the past but like the little creature we need to stay on top to fully embrace life as it unfolds.
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On Feb 21, 2018 Amy wrote :
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On Feb 20, 2018 EMM wrote :
Such a beautiful and important reminder to acknowledge and honor that there is a universal, cosmic, "God Force" which holds the Intention to guide each living creature towards its unique wholeness. Yet, on its own timing. I love this metaphor in relationship with the process of Forgiveness as well, as I've found again and again that forgiveness plays a vital role in how I move forward in my life; the quality of my decision making is directly is shaped by my capacity to recognize, align with, and trust the natural, evolutionary forces that intrinsically know where and when growth is needed and how it will unfold.
1 reply: Amy | Post Your Reply
On Feb 20, 2018 Kristin Pedemonti wrote :
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On Feb 20, 2018 Debra Roberts wrote :
Incredibly timely and beautiful offering, thank you so much.
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On Feb 17, 2018 david doane wrote :
We each have many 'chambers' filled with experiences from over the years. Sometimes I live in the freshest chamber and learn from the experience of past chambers, which helps me stay afloat. Sometimes I hold onto the unhappy experiences of old chambers in a way that sinks me, such as when I become negative and self-torturing. In any case, all the chambers are me -- what I've done and experienced stays part of me -- there is no delete button. Time alone doesn't put anything in perspective -- my perspective changes with what I do and what happens in time regarding past experiences. I can grow from past experience and use what I've gained as I live in the freshest chamber,and that may make the past feel lighter and help me live and love wiser and fuller. Nothing helps me to love again for the first time -- I can love again and love better, but there is only one first time.
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On Feb 16, 2018 Jagdish P Dave wrote :
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On Feb 16, 2018 Rajesh wrote :
This is a beautiful perspective and the nautilus is a very appropriate metaphor. I resonate with the author's observation that our ability to be open to the present and future depends on how well we resolve and integrate our past. Indeed very true.