Embodiment & Abundance 🌊✨
Nature's metaphor of abundance = Waterfall
Welcome to my mind’s thought process, haha! Grab some popcorn and enjoy. I genuinely would love to hear other people’s thoughts on this!
Word Breakdown:
Embodiment
Em - in
Bodi - body / main part
Ment - state / act
It describes the process of giving a physical or concrete form to something that is abstract or intangible - it is a state of being physically manifested
Lately, abundance has been constantly on my mind. I don’t want to live in a state of lack or a scarcity mindset. I want to live a life of abundance. When I say I want to embody “abundance” (which, in Latin - abundance means “fullness” or “plenty” - to “overflow”), I mean, I want to embody an overflow of beauty, love, grace, and compassion. Of course, money helps. But I’m talking deeper than money. This is about being filled again and again by life’s richness in all forms.
When I think of abundance in a natural state, the image of the waterfall immediately comes to mind. A waterfall is a tangible, natural state of abundance that the world exhibits (and I believe that we mirror mother earth and mother earth mirrors us)
So, then I got thinking… how can I overflow from a beauty state? I think it personally comes from reciprocity. It doesn’t just come from the vessel (me, or the river). A waterfall mirrors exactly what I long to:
… receive and replenish in a way that allows my vessel (or the river). A waterfall is literally flowing with water, and it doesn’t stop. I don’t want to stop because of pain, anxiety, fear, or worry. I want to keep flowing.
… be fed by something larger than myself. I have recently accepted that this comes from energy outside of me - I call it spirit. Others call it God, source, etc. Spirit’s energy flows through the support of the human structure (or, following my natural metaphor - rocks, gravity).
… to be sustained by support systems around me that help my emotions, relationships, creativity flow. (This symbolizes the moss, fish, soil’s interconnectedness in the river).
I don’t want to hoard my energy, I long to pour into the community and beyond. I want to make the world a better place overall - not just for me. (The waterfall pours through movement and provides beauty, not just sustenance).
I also recognize that, like the waterfall, I am shaped by erosion and time. However, I long for the pressure to be transformed into beauty, not erosion of myself or my vessel.
I was thinking… how can I embody abundance when I am burnt out? I am in a helping profession, teaching, and this job literally relies on the overflow of energy, or the burn out of teachers.
To answer this question: You can’t. You literally cannot embody abundance when there is nothing to draw on. So, what is feeding me? What is replenishing this constant state of flow/ energy?
To embody abundance, no matter what profession or state of life you are coming from, you have to learn to access the beauty state and allow it to overflow. It requires replenishment & receptivity.
As I thought of burn out, some other thoughts popped into my head with the metaphor of the waterfall. I thought - what would burn out symbolize in the natural world?
And then a beaver came into my head! If a beaver created a dam, then how would water go down the waterfall? A waterfall would be thwarted by a beaver!
However, a beaver is a natural part to the system. The beaver could seem like it is blocking the flow. However, what if we changed our perspective? What if the beaver built the dam to slow the flow or hold space for the water until the land is ready to receive more abundance. Maybe the flow was too much?
Which links back to burn out - I was giving too much energy. I was outsourcing myself. I was damaging myself with the fast paced movement, eroding parts of myself that are beautiful and needed. I needed a beaver dam, a pause and big boundaries to hold more space for myself to resist massive, irreparable erosion.
The benefits of a beaver dam are numerous - according to Google!
It can improve water quality by having the water filtered (getting rid of pollutants)
it can create ponds with a wide range of biodiversity (more opportunities for filtration)
it can create underground waterfalls of its own by creating groundwater storage
it can also minimize erosion of the actual vessel / river
In this state of pause, holding more space for myself, I am improving the quality of my energy. I am creating more expansion for more creativity to come forth. I am putting the extra energy into deep, underground reservoirs for storage.
Reframing Abundance 🌸
Abundance is not just about the act of overflow. There are so many aspects to it, especially when we follow the metaphor of the waterfall. Mother Earth is constantly gifting us lessons through her beauty.
It is a full spectrum:
it is flow & stillness
it is giving & receiving
it is movement & pause
it is energy & boundaries
Mother Earth is constantly teaching us lessons. To embody beauty is to embrace the obstacles, like the beaver, and to view it from another perspective. Maybe this beaver is limiting the flow that is reaching the waterfall, but it is doing it in such a loving and healing way. It is all a part of the bigger ecosystem of abundance.
Therefore, beavers aren’t stopping the flow, they are refining it! ^_^
Your summer reading list will be growing…come back over the next few days to check out these SIX new short-story reads :
A real-life Ferris Bueller - about a guy I grew up with, who lives an exciting life just like the movie character. The fast cars, the big-league baseball games, and a roaring crowd of friends.
The Funnel cake - the tacky, the terrific, and the tragic that comes with enjoying theme parks. Scenes from my life while enjoying different theme parks.
Sanctified - a composite sketch of the high-living that some church ministers seem to do. Taken from various observations in my life.
Extra credit - the riveting tale of a former colleague who was once a pro golfer. His scandal-plagued former teacher wife has an even more interesting story than he does.
The Argyle Inn - a delicious and lively gathering place in rural New South Wales, Australia. This eatery was not far from where we lived when we lived Down Under.
A few days in St. Augustine Florida - we’re headed out on family vacation down to FL, and I’ll report back on my observations of our trip.
If you haven’t already subscribed to my portfolio, go ahead and do so. At this time, all of my writing remains fully-free. You have nothing to lose. Read any 3-4 stories of mine, and you’ll be addicted. I’m campaigning to be one of your absolute favorite Substacks. My angle is unique. Always publishing several new reads weekly. Fun, manageable, 6-8 minute length reads. Read several each day and get caught up. Something for everyone - humor, drama, mystery, nostalgia, irony, spooky, & some series historical fiction. Tell your family and friends as well.
Come along.
@the smell of smoke