In spite of years of inner work, the questions ”Who am I?” and “How do I find what’s next?” seem to be my constant companions.
This means I always sit up and pay attention when I find a map to navigating life with joy and authenticity.
I’ve found such a map! For navigating life with joy…
Or rather… Martha Beck has found it. She’s drawn it into her fictional “allegory of awakening” entitled Diana, Herself. It’s not a worldly solution, not something you need to acquire. It’s a path you can take no matter who you are or what you are doing.
Not-so-hidden in this fantastical tale, are very real steps Beck has been teaching (and taking) to “Re-Wild” hearts and souls.
I brought Beck’s last book to you—Finding Your Way in a Wild New World. (Click here for that blog-post). In that book she describes “The Four Technologies of Magic,” as a path to “Reclaim Your True Nature to Create the Life You Want.”
The Seven Tasks of Bewilderment in Diana Herself are built on the same foundation, and just as tantalizingly simple. Mind, I said simple, not easy. I found myself enthralled, and ready to take these tasks into life to try them on.
Here’s the bottom line: Inside each of us, in our BODIES, not in some far-flung place, is a Greater Knowing. Finding the center of that knowing gives you the physical cues to the path your Higher Self wants you to take. It’s the GPS inside you—the guidance system to the path guaranteed to give you joy.
It’s really as simple as follow the feel-good symptoms, avoiding the pain. But there’s a process before that to get you out of your head, out of your typical thought patterns. I suppose one could call it a way of accessing deep intuition. But the approach is so visceral… Consequently, it’s different than anything else I’ve encountered.
The essence of it made me think of this line from a Mary Oliver Poem:
“You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.”
Martha Beck gives you tangible steps to take you to “the soft animal of your body.” And she does it through a wonderful, fantastical shero’s journey about a woman discovering the goddess within (and saving the world). Learn how to navigate life with joy!
Coach’s Challenge:
Get your hands on Diana, Herself by Martha Beck. I got it through my local library. Read it through, let it soak in, and spend extra time over the recap at the end of the Seven Tasks. I’m betting you’ll want to try them as much as I do! I’ll look forward to hearing what you think about this method for navigating life with joy!