Wednesday Wish (70); Create Your Braid

We stayed at home to write,

to consolidate our outstretched selves.

--Sylvia Plath

I slip out of bed, careful not to wake my baby girl. The fan whirs warm Mexican heat, gently ruffling the mosquito net and making just enough noise to let me move without a sound. My bare feet step down onto the cool hand-carved tiles while my eyes adjust to the dark. I walk to the kitchen…

to find my favorite coconut bowl

and my favorite chocolate chips.

And their best friends—

salted peanuts.

They make tinkling noises as I pour in a handful of each. I smile. A big –eyed gecko scrambles out of hand’s way. It is almost time.

Frogs sing, the sea crashes, a confused rooster doodles his call. I smile again. Oh, how I love my sacred time. Oh, how deeply I feel it all.

I sense things that are silent during the day. I listen to spirits and watch movies playing in my head. I speak with characters and ride emotions up into the sky. And right there in the glow of my computer screen I write it all down. Not everything, but as much as I can…the outlines, so that one day, a reader might color it all in. I quiver. I twirl. I feel laughter as flavor and love as color. I breathe in scented emotions from people dancing in my imagination, from neighbors dreaming themselves more alive.

A place to consolidate my outstretched Self. A time to visit the Divine within. Within myself. Within you. Within nature and all that is. Sacred time. Journey into the depths time. Prayer.

When my head and heart speak in tandem they join forces to create. I visualize their creation as a braid that grows out from my throat, a physical point of expression—imagination, manifested. That braid isn’t just beautiful. It’s not just for looks or even a mere symbol of what has occurred. Oh no…it is so much more. The braid of head and heart is a pathway to the Divine. A pathway available to us all. We can paint the threads with whatever colors we choose. We can add sparkles and scents, emotions and dreams. We can add anything that makes our souls sing. And the more we do, that pathway to the Divine grows smoother, easier, more delightful with every weave.

So now, a few days after I have sent my novel to a literary agent, I sit back and wonder…is a new braid in the works? Or will I add color to the old? When will the next movie begin to play loud enough to hear? Will it no longer ask for chocolate chips and peanuts but mung beans and mayo instead? What lies ahead? What moves beneath? What next will stir my soul…

And yet…none of that really matters. For I have found a hidden treasure that will never leave my side. My imagination is my connection to the Divine.

*          *          *

My wish this week is that you will ‘dare to consolidate yourself”, that you will take the time in the midst of your chaotic days, to let your head and heart dance together, in tandem, with nothing but a light and airy agenda. My wish is that you honor the importance of time for your imagination to soar. And not time for other’s imaginations to ride you along-- through television or even books. But time for your own imagination to play. Time for you to imagine, to give voice to the song that sings within. If not through paints or dance or sculpture or words, than with your imagination's eye, your dreams.

Create your braid. Weave your path with deep love for yourself and for others, and watch the mystery of the Divine within each and every one of us glow a golden hue.

Then step back with me…and smile.

At the magic of it all.