Here at Odyssey, we see our whole world shifting and changing right now in a way that most of us have never experienced. Even the weather patterns aren’t familiar anymore. And for many in our circle, there are also internal breezes stirring, along with the occasional storm.
Understandably, this can create anything from concern to anxiety, to out and out fear. George Orwell said, “They fear love because it creates a world they can’t control.” and it’s true. We human beings do like to believe we have control – some of us more than others – even to the point of restricting the ways in which we give and receive love.
Change, though, can also bring curiosity, excitement and openness. A love of what’s to come. As the Odyssey team, we see all this movement and stirring as an invitation, rather than a call to hide under the covers. And so the theme for our March issue is METAMORPHOSIS. A fancy name, perhaps, for change. I love the Merriam Webster definition – a striking alteration in appearance, character, or circumstances. If everything around us is going to shift, why not welcome it all, and embrace the opportunity to become even more truly ourselves?
The Transformation of You is all about you: in essence, a six-month plan for your own metamorphosis. It’s about living intentionally, focused on what you are choosing for yourself, for the world. Transformation is far more about being than doing, that’s true. Yet your intentions inform your actions, and your actions create your life.
Let’s look at our lives as a journey, shall we? We are born into a certain location with a terrain – perhaps a deciduous forest. The family you are born into is your basecamp, and you either stay in that particular setting or move about with them until you’ve grown strong enough to strike out on your own. The timing of that step differs for us all, but one day life shows you that you are ready and you lace up your boots, swing on your backpack and you are off. You find your way and veer to the right at the first fork in the road, which determines the rest of your life, of course. You may come to a clearing you like and put down roots, staying for years and years until you get the itch to move on. Perhaps you’d like to be closer to water, or have an open view, and one day, you pack up and head out on the path again. The next stop might be another long one, allowing you to settle in and get used to living at the foot of a mountain, say, with a stream running nearby. You have everything you need; you’ve learned to fish and to garden and all is well. Until maybe a lovely person wanders by and the two of you decide you’d like to see what the world looks like from the very top of that mountain. You begin the arduous hike together. And so on. Life is easier if you just stay where you are originally planted. Yet for many of us, the urge to change lifestyles eventually calls us forward. No one path is better or worse than another, of course. Just different.
And every single time, there is a particular rhythmic process that we go through. Though we often forget, don’t we, in between adventures?
For the next six months, we will be adding additional content here to support all of us in this season of change. Everything from astrological updates to mind/body/spirit practices, to inspiring stories of those who have walked all sorts of paths and lived to tell about it. In this overview, you’ll find some excerpts and insights into what is to come.
