Everyday we strive to do our best and be aware of our inherent spirituality – and then a diaper needs changing, the casserole is burning, the air conditioner is on the fritz. How hard it is to remember that spiritual calling. In her book, The Sacred Path Workbook, Jamie Sams suggests that sharing our stories and hard earned experiences can help us all negotiate life a little more easily. Listening to each other and sharing our stories can make us each feel less separate and more a part of a universal family, a sisterhood or brotherhood, where one of our important roles is to support each other.

The power of knowing that others are there to help hold us up or to share an encouraging word can be life changing. The purpose of this virtual village is to create a community that will help each of us stretch and grow and learn to support each other.

Three values that we wish to honor in this community are Simplicity, Reverence, and Authenticity.

Simplicity

One goal of our virtual village is to help us still the frantic mind so that we can be `Living Harmony in a Chaotic World`. The first step on this journey is to become aware of the chaos in our lives and see how much of it we can eliminate each day. With less chaos in our lives we can see what is present that we want to attend to.

By sharing our stories we can show others a different option for living or inspire them to new actions or let others know that they are not alone in their sorrows or their joys. We can learn that we all have so many of the same issues, just dressed in different clothing. With many of the distractions gone we can often see how we are contributing to our own problems. Seeing that is the first step in changing.

Simplicity, getting rid of all of the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual clutter, can let us see more clearly what is truly in our lives. That is a much stronger position from which to make meaningful change than randomly throwing things out because we can’t handle everything.

Reverence

According to Dictionary.com reverence is “a feeling or attitude of deep respect tinged with awe….” I like that. It is appreciation and gratitude to the power of ten! It is a soul felt acknowledgment of the wonder of nature, of family and friends, of situations and events. When we can open our hearts and see through the eyes of wonder we see, with awe, the majesty and magnificence of life – from the glory of a spring dawn, to the magic of a five year old bringing us toast in bed.

To lose reverence is to start down the road toward cynicism. The Divine is met in reverence. The beautiful Hindu greeting of `Namaste` (The Divine in me meets the Divine in you where we are One) is a wonderful example of reverence in an everyday, practical activity – greeting someone.

Authenticity

To be fully authentic is to be honest, vulnerable, naked for the world to see and yet, according to many, vulnerability is our greatest strength. To be authentic with only the goal of being fully ourselves is to honor what the Divine made, what the Divine gave us. It allows the Sacred to flow through us.

Authenticity is one of the hardest things you can do as authenticity offers no escape, no place to hide. Here is Sue Fitzmaurice’s view of being authentic.
“What it means to be authentic:
– to be more concerned with truth than opinions
– to be sincere and not pretend
– to be free from hypocrisy: “walk your talk”
– to know who you are and to be that person
– to not fear others seeing your vulnerabilities
– being confident to walk away from situations where you can’t be yourself
– being awake to your own feelings
– being free from others’ opinions of you
– accepting and loving yourself”

Your Invitation

You are invited to join us; to share stories to build a community; to support each other as we work to embody these principles in our everyday lives. The purpose of this virtual village is to create a community in which we will all stretch, grow, learn, and support each other.