Swept Away or Going with the Flow

Tap into the Opportunities within Mercury Retrograde

Swept away or going with the flow

We all have busy lives. However, the pandemic has created an opportunity to become more reflective. By not mingling with our friends and family as much, we have more time to ourselves.

And, spending time with yourself is really not a bad idea. Our previously busy lives, before the pandemic, were not always conducive to self-care and self-contemplation.

Many of us have now gotten used to taking long walks alone, sitting in meditation daily, praying on a regular basis, and even calling in the light of the Divine to bless and heal us. We may have even begun to notice our own issues and have chosen to start healing them.

Soon, we’ll encounter Mercury retrograde, which will further aid this self-reflection. Stay tuned to the end of this article to read some ways to prepare and make the most of Mercury retrograde.

If our pre-COVID life was defined by being swept away, the opportunity now is to learn how to go with the flow

Going with the flow does not mean getting in a boat without oars. In order to prepare to go with the flow, we need to pause and reflect. We prepare for life, and for the new year ahead, by setting intentions, goals, desires, wishes, directions, and priorities.

Step one– make pausing and reflecting a priority in your life

Amazing things will come to you, to your inner thoughts, if you give them space to land. By creating a window of time to sit with your journal, your Oracle cards, your incense, your candle, your crystals, your essential oil/color sprays, whatever helps you create sacred space for your higher self to talk to you. As you sit, you might begin with a prayer or a question.

It always helps me to write down my question or my prayer, pause and listen for my thoughts, insights, ideas. Sometimes I only get one word. But as I write down that word, it becomes a sentence and then it becomes several sentences. Before I know it, I have received solutions or a resolution for what I was exploring.

My favorite prayer to my higher self and the Divine

I am grateful for my lessons and my blessings.

I am grateful for getting my lessons on the first pass.

I am grateful for staying ahead of my lessons.

Basically, in life, there are occasionally tidal waves of experiences that knock us over, that we didn’t see coming. In some cases, if we had been paying attention, we might have seen the tidal wave coming. And if we were aware of what was being set into motion, we could have taken steps to mitigate the wave. We could have prepared and accomplished preventative steps.

Pay attention to the nudges you get in life

When we get these tiny nudges in life; that something is out of balance or feels awry, that is a message from your soul, from your higher self. Your soul is trying to get your attention. Your soul is serving you notice and asking you to notice what needs to be explored.

By exploring these things which catch our eye or our thoughts or our heart, we avail ourselves to self-care and transformation. Sometimes it’s easier in life to deny our reality so we can, ‘keep on, keeping on.’ But, when we stop blindly going through life, take the blinders off and trust what we know and see, we open ourselves up to important messages from our higher self.

Take action before the lesson repeats

‘Keeping on’ will only serve us for a limited amount of time, before the lesson that is accumulating grows intense enough for us to have no choice, but to deal with it. I learned early on in life, that it’s so beneficial to pay attention to what is happening to me and to what is happening to others. I choose to learn my lessons as they arrive, by exploring and transforming whatever it is I bump into, whatever upsets me, or throws me for a loop.

Paying attention to other people’s lessons is beneficial

I’m also just as attentive towards other people’s lessons. I believe in getting lessons through other people’s experiences, so that I don’t have to go through every lesson myself. Whether something happens to a dear friend, an acquaintance, or someone on the news, I am paying attention and reflecting on my reaction to someone else’s situation. If I have a reaction to their experience, that means there is something within me that resonates with this lesson. I will then sit with the feelings and thoughts around this experience, invite my higher self and the Divine to join me, call in pure Love and Light and begin the exploration and healing of what lies within.

Catch your lessons, like a wave

So, long story short, I try to catch my lessons, like one might catch a wave in the ocean. I greet the wave, ride it, while adjusting to the feel of it, and eventually come to a resolution. Of course, much like in the ocean, I might get knocked over, but in this case, it is being knocked over by a small wave, not a tidal wave.

Everything I do in my life is geared towards paying attention to the moment. When I am knocked off balance and out of my joy, I quickly set all else aside and call in the Light for transforming whatever it is I have bumped into. Perhaps I have the luxury of time to do this. Certainly, in my semi-retirement, I have made very clear priorities as to what I will focus on.

However, I have been doing this work for decades in this way. In the midst of raising three children, raising a grandchild for a year, whatever life brought us.

Mercury retro is upon us

At the end of this week, we have an opportunity to experience Mercury retrograde once again. Mercury will bring changes into our life, which can be welcomed and adapted to or they can be viewed as disruptions. The choice is always yours. In reality, I might see unexpected changes as disruptions initially. But, then I quickly reset and begin to work with those changes and welcome them. I allow myself to see it as a disruption and then I allow myself to heal that viewpoint, adapt to the change and move on.

In the days leading up to the official moment when Mercury goes retrograde, Mercury is actually at a standstill in the heavens, or so it appears. This actually can be an intense in-between time, before the three weeks of Mercury retrograde. Before these periods of time, I also prepare. I encourage you to prepare. How does one prepare for Mercury retrograde?

By getting your ducks in order. (backing up data, etc.)
By organizing what has become disorganized.
By repairing or fixing or replacing what is broken.
By looking at your schedule and knowing that it could change in any moment.
By being willing to accommodate changes.
By welcoming dreams which revisit your past relationships or experiences.
By appreciating contacts from people you haven’t heard from in a long time.
By looking for the joy and fun in all the changes.
By trusting you can adapt to any change that is required.
By bringing closure to something that needs it.
By opening up something that’s ready to be re-opened.

Flow with your own priorities

I invite you to flow with your own priorities into the new year, into Mercury retrograde. Imagine being present in your life, taking little moments for yourself and for your connection to the Divine every day. Imagine getting out in nature and taking short or long walks daily. Imagine creating self-care routines that feel so good, that you must accomplish them daily.

Wishing you well in the new year and wishing you well through the upcoming three weeks of Mercury retrograde. Allow your subconscious, your soul, the chance to speak with you. I always find that easier to do during Mercury retrograde.