TRANSCENDING FORCE

Have you ever wanted to witness the miracle of a newborn coming into life? Have you ever wanted to experience yourself taking on new life in a magical way? A way of being that could expand you…?

“Miracles are available in any moment

when we bring the best of ourselves

forward.”

– Marianne Williamson

 

What is that desire that animals sometimes spark in us that makes us want to feel if not one, then less two –that is, less separate?

Edward Abbey described this when meeting “a large animal face to face in the wild…a kind of affection and the crazy desire to communicate, to make some kind of emotional, even physical, contact with the animal.”

I now understand this urge to connect.

***

In a moment from my road trip across America, when I call to reserve a cabin for the night in Hot Springs, South Dakota, I talk with the owner, Dan, who tells me of a wild deer who lives in the nearby forest and sometimes comes to visit.

“If you’re lucky, she’ll eat out of the palm of your hand,” he says. “And if you’re really lucky she’ll kiss the end of your nose before she eats from the palm of your hand.”

The former park ranger tells me it has taken “Molly” three years to do this with him.

Well, I think, not me. Molly will kiss me today. I feel the intensity and drive of the television executive producer in me, determined and focused on a desired result.

But what if I shift, let it go? Leave behind the “me” that pushed, competed, asserted?

Embrace gentleness instead?

In the Brush, Historic Log Cabins Motel, Hot Springs, S.D.

From the moment I arrive at the cabin site, I feel this complete ease, confidence, clarity.

A simple knowing, a sense of flowing, of being gently carried by the energy of grace.

***

I let her come.

It is past the time she might typically visit, but she appears with her twin buck babies.

She kisses me more than once. One of her bucks then approaches my outstretched hand.

“This will be a first…” the owner Dan says, peering through my camera lens to watch and make a photo.

The buck presses his lips into the palm of my hand. Grace!

***

A Moment Shared

The following spring, I return to the cabin site to see Molly. When I don’t see her after two days, I let it go.

I have our memory to cherish. And my only care is that she is well.

Dan has not spotted her for more than a week. Maybe she is off delivering her new spring fawn?

Then, as I start to leave, I see her standing nearby.

She lets me follow her behind a shed where she beds down.

Then her contractions begin. First minutes apart, then closer together. I see her body welling, expanding; the baby moves inside her belly.

Prepping

  

Bedding Down

She lies her head down. Her eyes begin to flutter. “Molly, hang in there,” I say, scared she may not make it.

“Push, Molly, push,” I whisper, sensing the contractions roil through her body.

I grab my pack, ready to run for help. She startles, stares at me, as if to say, If you leave, I will, too.

I hear heavy breathing as her contractions grow more intense. Moisture beads on her nose. A drop falls onto the ground. She maneuvers her mouth as if chewing, though she hasn’t eaten in the hours that I’ve been here.

We sit together for more time than I can track.

Suddenly, Molly’s grown buck babies appear and interrupt her pre-birthing process. Molly stands abruptly and bounds away, leaving her yearlings to return to the forest and find their own way. It is time for Molly to bring new life into the world, she’s telling me.

Molly then lets me follow her as she eats.

Contractions

She beds down in soft, green grasses behind my cabin.

I sit beside her 12 feet away. I put down my camera, as we watch the spring day. Clouds roll by. Trees shimmy in the breeze. A flock of birds flies overhead.

Just two girls sittin’ together on a sunny South Dakota day.

As the sun begins to set, Molly stands, nudges her nose against her pregnant belly, licks it; then she slowly saunters down a hill into the forest.

This time, I do not follow her. I watch as she disappears to launch the cycle of life again.

And I am grateful as I consider all that she has taught me:

Be gentle. Trust your instincts.

Keep an open heart. Stay in the moment.

Live in both worlds, but always have a private wilderness you can return to.

Follow your true nature.

Playground of the Future

***

How can we integrate some of this magic, some of these “miracles,” as Marianne Williamson calls them, into our daily lives?

1. Envelop the meaning. What if, right in this moment, you declared you did not want to “force” your life anymore? You wanted gentleness to unfold and experience the gifts it could bring? You might feel fear, as we all have held on so tightly to control – at one time or another. If you haven’t ever, you have mastered this already and can move on to read or do something else in this instant . So, how can we embrace gentleness and grace instead? Consider the meaning of this story’s title: “Transcending Force.” When I initially conceived it, I envisioned it as a rising above pressure and compulsive drive. And, “transcending force” could also be how you are being right now; that is, a power, energy, strength that outshines previous behavior. Take just a moment to feel what being a “transcending force” means to you.
2. Stay open to opportunities to demonstrate this and share a moment when it does. Re-reading this story about Molly to share with you, I re-lived it, remembered it as part of who I am and capable of being in any moment. What we express we experience more. This can fuel our desire to experience more, then express more, the cycle continuing. You give to all of us when you share your moments. Thank you, in advance, for sharing — 🙏❤️
3. Transcend ego and force to find meaning in magical encounters. Ah, this is a big one . The TV Producer in me had a very healthy ego . And relied on “force” to produce results. Now we are talking about transcending ego and force, and staying open to the ways magic awaits us when we do.

The first day I practiced this “transcendence” back home, I drove to see my mother in the hospital. People have often said my mother’s aged beautifully. And she’s always prided herself in looking elegant. But now, unable to fully groom and bathe herself, combined with a lifelong sense of modesty, this hospital stay was challenging her in ways beyond the physical. And she was responding.

Stripped of layers that brought her comfort and security, she did not wither; instead, it was if an inner light began to shine brighter. She opened up to reflect about her life, filled with so many “magic moments.” She told me I have been a big part of so many of those moments. I told her she has been a part of so many of my magic moments too. I held her hand and looked into her eyes. She was beautiful in this moment; so pure and full of love. No makeup, her hair pulled back into the weathered National Geographic do-rag I’d given her. It was one of the moments in my life I have felt my deepest bond with her.

What moment can you experience today, Transcending Force?

***

Jillian Robinson Weaver is an Emmy-winning TV Producer, Author/Photographer, and Coach, whose passion is to help people live their Highest Self. Come join her on Instagram for daily “Coffee Conversations,” where she does just that! https://www.instagram.com/jillianrobinsonweaverccwg/.