A-Z Blog Challenge: I: Invitation to Change

butterfly

We know that change happens every moment even if we are not aware of it. The sun is that fraction higher or lower, the shadows shorter or longer. Dramatic changes can occur that turn our lives upside down, diagnosis of an illness, the death of a loved one, an accident, a move to a new home from choice or necessity, the severing of ties of those who’ve betrayed us …

These sorts of changes force us into ourselves, force us to see our individuality in our response to them; and perhaps our unconscious collusion in the teeming morass of it all. Dear Lord, our lessons are hard and they are not the sorts of invitations we want. 

But, horrid though they are, is there a calling card lying at the bottom of the pile that wants our attention? We cannot believe that life’s slings and arrows, its ups and downs have no meaning.

What is the invitation? Could it be to have a deeper conversation with ourselves, an invitation to lead a larger inner life, to find more balance and peace, to find inspiration in the smallest things. To take the inward path for a change, and allow ourselves to be surprised at the illumination we may find …

 The butterfly above – from its chrysalis to a thing of beauty, taking flight upon the wing, from its time within its covering ..

50 Comments on I: Invitation to Change

  1. Thank you, Susan. I always assume there is meaning to every experience, including the catastrophes. I assume I’m begin corrected and guided all the time. There is usually an image that catches me and remains in memory. That’s the one I want to understand, even if it’s upsetting or mysterious or unacceptable to the ego. Yes to Change. I am not a card-carrying Buddhist, but the doctrine of change makes me love the teachings I’ve found there.

    • Thank you Elaine. Catching those sometimes elusive images is so worthwhile for the guidance they can provide … even if they seem to always change.

  2. Life is a journey and we don’t what the next moment may bring. Learning to accept what is and look on for the future.

    Thought provoking piece.

  3. I too am grateful for the connection Trisha thank you! Your lovely posts always cause a positive reaction in me thank you! 🙂

    • I too am grateful for the connection Trisha thank you! Your lovely posts always cause a positive reaction in me. thank you!

      Sorry for the duplicate comment, but the first one wasn’t stacked properly and I hope you get my response 🙂

  5. It takes so much energy to refuse the invitation. The energy we need to break free of the chrysalis we once needed turns to making it a brittle prison for our spirit. I spent time a few weeks ago by my mother-in-law’s side as she lay dying. In her 92 years of service she had become habituated to duty and had a hard time answering an invitation in which she, and only she, would benefit. She only began her journey when her children, exhausted by their vigil, went home to sleep for a few hours.

    • Oh dear Jan, yes this is true, it can go that way too. We refuse with all our might that invitation – sadly I am witnessing it 2nd hand vis a vis my brother who is crippled from depression.

      I am now thinking, because of how you say it, of the enormous energy that goes into refusal of the invitation – it reminds me of Anais Nin: ‘And the day came when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.’

      Thank you so much for coming by 🙂 I have an afternoon of catch up in front of me and look forward to reading more about writers et al who inspire you –

  6. Another excellent post Susan, I absolutely love the way you invite us all to be real! I agree with Gulara the poem ‘The Invitation’ by Oriah Mountain Dreamer is stunning, a beautiful poetic invitation. Here are a few of my favourite lines …

    “It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.”

    Already looking forward to your ‘J’ post. Blessings, Deborah.

    • I now have The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer up on my ipad Deborah … while searching for it there is a page about how she got to write it that I have bookmarked to read. Years before she had attended a David Whyte writing workshop –

      It is very powerful … I have read it deeply and feel every word for its truth. Thank you for the nudge to actually put it up. Thank you so much! I hope Gulara reads this .. or maybe I’ll just send her a message on this post. And autumn blessings coming your way!

  7. Brilliant post Susan, loved every sentence, how true ! when we look back at our past and analyse there is so much of change that has happened around us, inviting us to change- take the inward journey to find ourselves; and also to be able move towards balance, harmony and happiness. There have been experiences that have altered our very perceptions of our selves…. thanks for this lovely post, made me think, reflect and what beautiful day to begin with this post:)

    • Thank you for your lovely comment Genevive! I agree that in looking back we see the changes brought about by outer experiences and we witness how they have changed us in an inner way. It is an invitation and a gift to reflect –

    • Do we get a break from change every now and then Beth? Perhaps when we find a moment to be still? – yet paradoxically even that brings about change ..

      After I’d put up this post and went walking yesterday p.m. I was thinking about the theory of evolution and it really was a case of adapt or die .. and perhaps still is.

    • How lovely that the butterfly alighted on you Daniel and the symbolism rang true. Thank you for saying so and for coming by.

  10. “We cannot believe that life’s slings and arrows, its ups and downs have no meaning.” I was just thinking and wondering about that, and then I read that you wrote it.

    I love the butterfly, of course. An A-Z blogger wrote that a caterpillar thought it was dead and then it was reborn and flew away I don’t recall who wrote that. Was that you?

    • A lovely synchronicity Samantha! As in Gulara’s one above. No, it wasn’t I who wrote about the caterpillar, though in a different thread entirely (not A-Z, I was researching something) I read someone’s response to a lengthy article post 2001 9/11.

  11. Susan,
    I love the title of this post, An Invitation to Change. Because that is exactly what change invites us to do. It is only when we ignore it, that the process becomes painful.

    Visiting from the A to Z Blog Challenge.

    Shalom,
    Patricia @ EverythingMustChange

  12. Thank you for this important reminder. I think there are definitely changes that we do not wish for, and for which there is no reason, but it’s what we do with the change after that makes us who we are. Even if we do not welcome the invitation (and sometimes we do), we can choose how we react.

    Now I have to catch up with past posts of yours. 🙂

    • Thanks Merril for coming by. As long as our choices are made consciously and with no hidden agendas, then we’re on the right track with regard to change, forced or otherwise …

  14. You said it, Susan. There is an open invitation from life, the cosmos, to have a larger inner life. Change occurs every fraction of a second, though it remains unnoticed for large duration of time. Taking the inward path toward change is wisdom. Thank you.

    • Thank you Silvia .. though I enjoy my outward paths also when I go walking. Interestingly, to me, I view things differently … and feel a bit of a inner change at the same time 🙂

  15. Yes, it is amazing the various ways that Change impacts us. Plus, we can either change and grow or not change and become stagnate and possibly die. Life’s changes provide interesting choices too.

    Thanks for your wisdom and excellent post!

    • Thank you Gwynn. Interesting choices indeed. Woody Allen: ‘If you’re not failing every now and then, it’s a sign you’re not doing anything very innovative’ – I don’t know why that appeals to me 🙂

  16. My blog friend Laurie Buchanan reminds me “Whatever you are not changing you’re choosing,” an invitation to live our best lives.

    • I prefer the Biker’s motto Mary … though great truth in being adaptable. Although sometimes I wonder if I haven’t adapted myself out of existence ..

  19. Change is inevitable, but so many of us rage against it. Yet, that invitation to change–that makes a huge difference, as though giving us permission to change.

  21. Beautiful butterfly and a thought provoking post. Are you familiar with a poem called The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer? Thank you, Susan

    • I’ve just come back from a walk and I remembered the Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer; I wish I’d thought of her before Gulara! I’ve made a note to look it up and see if I can use it somehow in upcoming posts. Thank you saying! Quite possibly you read my post as I was walking and I remembered!

  22. I’m averse to change, but the ‘wakeful’ part of me knows it’s how the biggest breakthroughs in my life came about (even though those eventually fell into routine as well).

    Looking at it from a writer’s standpoint right now, I try to push myself into trying new things. Currently I’m editing and revising for the 1st time (after dodging it for 5 first drafts) and it’s hard sometimes, but oh-so rewarding.

    Obviously there are bigger changes (i.e. death, disease, marital status, etc.) but I’m a believer that how you handle small changes might reveal how you can handle bigger (sometimes, sadly, eventual) changes.

    Enjoyed the post!

    • Thank you Marna for coming by. That’s so nicely put how handling and implementing (beneficial) small changes can change the way we view larger expected and unexpected changes..

      Editing – so hard! I wish you well.

  23. Oh even in the least abstract(ed) view, those types of invitations are what keep me awake at night. I’d rather have No mail, if you please, but of course that is to wish for a completely peaceful personal existence which would lead to the question ‘how wise would I be if that was the case?’

    • Those invitations keep me awake at night too Lesley! I battle with being in the now or in the moment but always the invitation to the inner calling for change. Any way out of this conundrum? Thank you for commenting 🙂 We’d probably be wiser if we led a peaceful personal existence I’m just thinking right now…

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