Learning how to follow the flow of life.

What if the purpose of life was simply to find deep meaning and enjoyment in each moment as it arises? Supposing that this were true, how would this change they way that you are living your life right now? Would you perhaps be in less of a hurry to get to wherever it is that you think that you need to be heading? Would the elements yet to be crossed off of your “to-do” list be less of a concern? Would you find yourself doing less of certain things that you believe that you “should” be doing, or that you have little interest in?
One of the greatest lessons that I am learning during my time in the Amazons, is learning to flow more gracefully within the meandering current of life. In contrast to the place where I live and work now, in the society where I was raised, I was socialized to be goal oriented and “achievement” motivated. Since childhood, I already “knew” that there were very important things that I “needed” to accomplish to be a successful adult, and needs that I would have to fill in order to be happy. We think of our life paths in terms of destination, and we seek to find the shortest possible journey to reach our destination. In fact, we are constantly searching for the fastest, most efficient ways to short-cut through life towards our goals. I’m not suggesting that having a goal is a negative thing, or that we should not have a vision of what we want to create in life. What I am learning however, is how to approach the journey towards those goals as an enjoyable adventure, which has a value in and of itself.
The shamans that I work with at the Temple are all in their sixties and seventies, profoundly spiritual beings who work tirelessly to help people to heal from serious physical, mental and emotional afflictions. They take their work very seriously, and I have never yet seen them turn anyone away, no matter how late it is, or how long they have been working. Never for a moment however, do they lose their sense of humor or joyful nature. Even in the midst of working with someone with a serious problem, they will stop to tell a joke, giggle, play a silly prank, or tease one another. There is no sense that enjoyment should cease at any point, no matter what else is going on. Whatever is happening in this moment is an experience to be lived and enjoyed. I do not mean to portray as if they are not human beings with the capacity to get angry, frustrated, annoyed, etc. But I am amazed to witness with them, similar to the way that children often are, when they experience anger, frustration, etc., they will feel it, express it, and very quickly let it go and move on. Life is lived to its fullest expression in the present moment, and that moment is constantly changing.
Watching these shamans the last seven months, I have realized so much about myself. I recognize that I have often been distracted from the enjoyment of that which I am living right now, because I am thinking about where I am “supposed” to be, what I “should” be doing, or what I “could have” done. I recognize that I have ideas of the way that things are supposed to look in my life, and that often the map that I have created is actually limiting my perspective of what is possible. Time and again I find that when I set my goals and allow life to flow in its unexpected and meandering ways, the things that happen are more marvelous and miraculous than what I had ever planned. This is awareness that I continue to have over time, but the practice of this in my daily life requires a childlike faith and a certain level of humility, a “beginners mind” that does not need to control the outcome of life by assuming that I know the best way to make things happen. It requires a tremendous amount of patience as well, another attribute that I am learning from the shamans.


Time, or the illusion of time plays a very important role in the process of learning how to follow the flow of life. So often I hear from people; “I wish I had the time for that”, or “I could never find the time to do…” or “I don’t know where all my time goes.” There is this illusory sense that our time is limited, and a sense of a pressure of time, that we must continue to work faster, harder, smarter, in order to stay ahead of this invisible time pressure. However I continue to find that the more impatience or anxiety that I have about “making” something happen, the more obstacles and “distractions” will arise to delay the manifestation of what I am pushing for. And suddenly, when I’m focused on something else entirely, “poof”, the obstacles will be removed and things begin to flow. The process of trusting the flow of life means that I can soften my sense of trying to “control” time, which is definitely an impossible task. It means softening into life in general, and I find that I am more joyful, more childlike, more intuitive and probably a lot more fun to be around. My mental to-do lists are still several imaginary pages long, but I don’t feel so much anxiety if they have not happened yet, because I know that they, just like me, are a constantly evolving work in progress.