Power Over, Power Under, Power In, Power With

Power is almost a dirty word.  We don’t speak about power.  Unless, of course, we already feel powerful.  Most of us don’t feel powerful.  We might judge ourselves to be intelligent, organized, careful, but rarely would we describe ourselves as powerful.  Yet, we wish for power, even long for power.

So, what exactly is power? The dictionary definition isn’t much help; “ the ability to do something or act in a particular way, especially as a faculty or quality”.  The question for me, is how do I act with power that I know about, act with awareness.  Often, I find that I wield an unknown power, a sense of having something moving through me that I can’t control, or can’t stop.  I identify that sense of energy as power, but often it comes as a feeling of loss of power, or what I would call “power under” or “power over”. 

Power under is about feeling “under it,” overwhelmed, lost, out-of-control.  None of these seem too desirable.  Yet, they are not uncommon experiences for many of us.  Power over is about feeling strong and able, feeling ready and energized, yet often power over is also about feeling alone, isolated and afraid underneath.  We know about power over because it is everywhere around us. Power over is the dominant cultural mode, a mode we almost without thinking agree to, work with and work under.

Power in means knowing what is true for you, knowing what you want.  You may not know how to get it, but you know what you are looking for, what is meaningful for you, what you desire.  Power in is critical for life.  If you don’t know what is true for you, or what you want, you will keep getting what you don’t want, keep feeling like you are missing out.  When you develop ways to know what is true for you, ways that allow you to access your knowing on the spot, life may not be easier but your choices will be informed and powerful for you.  

Power with, strangely, is the most foreign to many of us.  Power with is means making a relationship, feeling the energy born of asking, engaging with another human being.  Power with feels vulnerable, tender.  Power with creates openness, possibility.  Power with means we invite and allow change, input.  Power with means we are not alone in our journey.  We go with, we learn with, we create with.  

What kind of power do you have right now?
What kind of power do you want?
Where and when do you feel yourself to be powerful?  

I’d really love to hear from you on this topic!
And next week, more on power with as it shows up in our world these days…

A Morning Song

A bit of tenderness is already here,

Pink curtains and a glass on the windowsill.

A snip of sunlight

In a place where only tiredness was before.

There is an ache,

In the heart and the hips,

Something that can’t be undone

Or even ameliorated

In this morning.

But the unevenness of the edge on the turquoise bowl

And a plain guitar,

They are also here,

With some kind of simplicity,

Some kind of openness,

Some kind of possibility,

And with some kind of quiet

The whole thing sings.

Sparkle

  Sparkle is yang qi.  Yang is the energy of sunlight, heat and movement.  Function, you could say.  In your body this is called respiration, digestion, metabolism.  Qi is a relationship, the energy of connection, unheard, unseen but evident.  Sparkle is the combination. 

Sparkle begins in the lower belly.  It begins as a sensation, a little river of movement that makes you want to stretch your limbs, rotate your joints, reach and wave your hands.  Sparkle shows up in icicles, in snow, in rain even, as you see the remnant of water on the grass, trees, bushes when sunlight hits them.  And it shows up in your thoughts as you begin to imagine how you might re-paint your office, buy a new lamp or a new pair of shoes, how you might cook a special meal or sing a new song.  All of these are sparkles. 

And sparkle can happen between people as new ideas percolate, or bodies dance together.  Here in the smack middle of winter, the very spark of life is moving, bringing forth your essence, your inspiration, your knowing from the very darkest, deepest places. 

Things get very sparkly this time of year.  The sunlight is so clear, so strong as the days grow longer.  While the trees are still bare, there is a sense that you can see farther, feel more space, a heaven space, a vision space.  Each year for this mid-winter point, I reflect on what I can see for myself in the coming year, what I intend, what I can commit to.  I sit in the space of stillness, the quiet and let the light shine deep into my being, listening, feeling carefully for where the sparkles are showing up. 

For now all that I feel remains vision, imagination, a sparkle in my eye, but I will water that spark with my intentions, with my commitments.  Intentions connect us with longing, with our hearts, starting somewhere in our solar plexus and rising up into our chest.   Commitments connect us with our guts, with our deepest knowing, starting somewhere in our lower belly and rising up to the throat, the place where we are willing to speak to what is true. 

You can make a practice of this; setting down your vision, your intentions and your commitments for this year.  If a year feels daunting, you can set a shorter time frame, maybe 3 months, maybe 6 months, some time.   Give yourself an hour, an hour of daylight.  Sit still for some time.  Bring your colored pencils or markers or your phone to record your thoughts. 

Begin with your vision. 
     Remember that vision is big and loose, open and spacious. 
Add your intentions. 
     These are the things you have aspiration to do, things you think about.
Then, make your commitments. 
     These are the things you WILL do. Each day, each week, each month.
What will you do to make your vision manifest,
     to put your intentions into practice? 
          What will you DO?
Be realistic.  Be gentle.  Be strong. 

What can you see for yourself this year? 
What do you intend?
And what can you commit to? 
What will you grow in your garden, in your home, in your spirit this year? 
What is sparkling?