A Journey Into Joy
Step 9 — Week 4: The Reward
Step 9 The Reward The ordeal was a major milestone. At last, the “sword” is within their grasp. The hero can take the time to cherish the reward, even celebration it. However the hero has yet to embark on their journey home. Thankfully they have the knowledge and skill to face the final conflict, even if they have yet to fully realize it.
For me I plan to continue with the areas covered in the weeks of Step 1 (health, home, The Mandala Lady, and my purpose).
To join in on the journey, visit the MandalaoftheMonth.com to download the mandala to color and learn more about this step.
Here’s my journal entry for step 9–week 4: My Purpose
Of late I’ve been repeatedly seeing some version of needing to “rise above my fear” or “rise above what’s holding me back”, which ties in nicely with my calling …to soar like the one I am meant to be.
Since last month I’ve been doing more work with my “parts” (IFS). The direct approach has given me some results but of late I’ve found that using my dream state is more effective…it’s offering a safer arena for my “parts” to come forward…after all they mostly hang out in the subconscious realm…in other words, it gives them the home advantage.
I do it by putting forth a request that a certain part come forward in my dreams…I usually do this when I wake up around 3 or 4 am. I find my last dream or two before waking to be my most informative dreams. As soon as I wake up I write down as much of the dream as possible.
The next step would be to create a dialog with the part that showed up. Now that we’ve met, we can hopefully have a more effective conversation.
My recent session with Dr. Ben also brought forth a major part that, prior to that session, was reticent to come forward. When we tried to connect with it, it was like a toddler having a temper tantrum…it didn’t want to move forward…and my being forceful, wasn’t helping. Using Dr. Ben’s process, we were able to heal my relationship with that part enough we were both ready to move forward.
As part of “the return”, I’ll continue to connect with these neglected parts to heal our relationships. Soon we’ll be ready to soar…with joy.
That’s it for now.
Maureen
The Mandala Lady
🌟 bringing sanity to an insane world through the art of mandalas
ABOUT “A JOURNEY INTO JOY”
With all the anxiety and stress in the world right now, focusing on joy may seem a bit counterintuitive. Mais contraire mes amis. We actually need more joy in our lives…now more than ever. And it starts within each of us. It’s been my experience that when in that higher vibrational state of joy, it helps raise the vibration of those around us as well.
Brené Brown defines joy as “an intense feeling of deep spiritual connection, pleasure, and appreciation”. Of late, I mostly experience only moments of happiness and on a rare occasion, joy…thus my desire to journey into joy.
My quest throughout this year is to explore, experience, and express this state in a variety of ways, including following a variation of the hero’s journey, as professed by Jospeh Campbell.
Care to join me? Here’s how…
MandalaoftheMonth.com: On the first of the month, I’ll create and post a mandala for coloring. Each month we’ll take another step along the “journey into joy” by following a modified version Joseph Campbell’s a hero’s journey. Included in each step will be a description of the step and prompts for coloring and/or journaling for the month. You’re welcome to color them as well…they’re free to download.
MandalaoftheWeek.com: Each Monday I’ll be posting my coloring of that month’s Mandala of the Month, which will produce 4-5 colorings of that design. With each one, I intend to dig deeper into the message of that month’s mandala. You’re welcome to color along as well.
Mandala of the Week 