I feel stuck. I don’t see an Opening before me. What can I do?

The Nature of Release

In my work with Lynn Andrews, she said to me that if you want power, you must make a place for it to live. What that meant was literal – I had to make room. How do we make room for what we want? Do we need to make room before an Opening appears? In some cases, yes. If our lives and psyche are full, how can there be room for something new? An Opening requires space to live.

In many indigenous cultures there is a continuous process of release and bringing in the new. There are ways to release through ceremony or ritual or in practice. It may be that something symbolic is created – a doll, a prayer stick, a piece of art – that represents what no longer serves us. That symbol is then destroyed in some way – by burying it in the earth, burning it or otherwise. In that way, we physically represent our letting go.

Release is a powerful act and not an easy one. It is difficult to let go of something we once valued and that was part of our life. Especially so when we don’t know what will replace it. We often are facing the unknown and loss as we contemplate release. But we know that without releasing there will not be room for the new to come in.

Making Room

If we are reluctant to release or are feeling stuck, we can start by looking at our life and assessing what its current state is. Why are we feeling stuck? Is life too crowded to contemplate something new? Are we fearful of something? Are we reluctant to leave our comfort zone? Is someone holding us back? Do we like where we are and are not sure what is the cause of our discontent?

The bottom line is that we must have room in our life for something to come in.  If there is no room, we must make it. If our time is taken up or stress envelops us, we must deal with that and find our center so that the situation does not take over. If there are demands on us, we must cull through them and let go of what we can. If we are running away, we must stop expending energy in doing so.

Fear is a major factor in making room for an Opening. Fear can fill us. It takes up room. It must be dealt with and released. It serves no positive purpose in our life. How do we release fear? First, we identify what it is that we are fearing. This can be challenging because fear knows how to mask itself. However, we all have experienced fear and know it when we see it.