This summer I attended a really powerful reiki retreat on the west coast. It was the closest I have been to the Pacific ocean in over 10 years. The first time I was there since I graduated college, and entered adulthood. The first time I was near that spectacular body of water since I was attuned to the reiki energy. Being in the presence of such a force was very healing and impactful.
The house we stayed in was just off the ocean, I could see it from my balcony. I slept each night with the door to my room open. The constant rhythm of the waves lulled me into a deep comfort and safety, crashing against the land created a soundtrack all their own. How magnificent the ocean is, never still, its crashing waves constantly being pushed and pulled.
I woke early every morning, and took my coffee and water across the block and down the wooden steps to the rocky beach. The water was already sprinkled with surfers, riding the early morning waves. I would breath deeply and stare in awe at the glory of this ocean spreading out as far as my eyes could see. I would let myself bask in the grace and power of the magnificent ocean that so many get to be with every day, but that I knew I would only be near for a few short days.
When I had taken it in fully, I turned left and walked lightly over the smooth rocks, and shells until I found a large boulder that I could rest on. I would watch the waves roll in, I would listen to their rhythmic crashing, let myself feel the push and the pull. I observed the surfers perched on their boards, bouncing on the waves, occasionally catching a wave, or falling in the pursuit of that blissful ride. I would sip my coffee and I would sing. I would sing songs of praise and gratitude. I would sing songs of love, songs to call forth the energy of water. I would let my voice rise in devotion to the ocean. Be like water.
When I felt moved, I would tuck my belongings into a nook in the boulder and i would walk out to where the waves met the shore. As the waves moved in their steady rhythm, I would dance with them, and sing to them. I would let the reiki flow through me and to the ocean. I would let gratitude and reverence fill me and spill out of my being and my voice.
I would ground my feet in the sand and I would let the waves beat against my legs, feel the surge of immense power as they pushed and pulled everything around me, sand and rocks moving great distance with every crashing wave. I gave myself these moments of grace with the ocean. I let myself feel the power and force that can, over time, transform rocks into tiny grains of sand. It is truest something to behold.
On my final day of the retreat, we all gathered on the ocean’s shore one final time before our early morning departures. While we all milled about, soaking in the vibes, letting ourselves feel the power of what we had just done together, the ocean gave me a gift.
I looked down at the rocks, and there waiting for me was a spectacular metal ring with a depiction of a native american chief. It fit me perfectly. It took a moment for it to really settle in. Shocked perhaps, that among so many stones and shells I had found such a unique treasure. I sent so much gratitude to the ocean as the weight of this message settled in. I had been asking for guidance, working on opening myself to receive, and this is what was given.
I asked for guidance,
I opened myself to receive,
& this was given.
How magical this world can be.
It is on my finger now, as I type. I wear it often, it has become a powerful totem for me. A reminder of my power. A reminder of the deep relationship I have with this planet. A reminder of the leader within me. A reminder of the commitment I have to this planet. A reminder of how much healing needs to happen.
I was asked today, when someone noticed the ring on my finger, if I was part Native American. I’m not, and answered as such. I could tell there was some judgement in the question, appropriation high on everyone’s mind.
Do I have a right to wear the image of a leader who was annihilated by those who stole this land and created this country where I was born and live still? A leader whose sacred duty bound him both to this land and to his people?
Some may say no. But, this was a gift to me from the ocean and so I wear it with reverence, grace and gratitude. Remembering my own duty to this land and to my people. Remembering my obligation to humbly lead toward a better way.
This ring is a reminder of the lessons forgotten in recent times, but whispered to me by my ancestors who walked with the light : we are all one. The land is alive, and is part of me, I am part of it. I have an obligation to this land. I have an obligation to restore balance and harmony.
We have forgotten how to live in harmony with the land. We have forgotten how to move with and honor the cycles, and the rhythms of the land. We have forgotten the language of our ancestors that knew how to decode the messages in the winds as it danced through the tall grasses and the leaves of the tallest trees. The languages that honored and held space for what it is to be like water, to be like the ocean, to be like a shoreline. We have forgotten to give thanks to that which gives up life.
We have forgotten that this planet is meant to be shared. That maybe it was not given to us, but that we were given to it.
We have forgotten so much.
The time has come to remember what we once knew.
This ring is a reminder that I am here to help us reconnect with the land, reconnect with love.
This ring is a powerful totem from the ocean as I move forward and help us heal our disconnection from the earth. There is so much that needs to be healed in terms of our relationship to this planet and to each other. I am one of many earth warriors, and I am here to help us remember what we know deep down inside our core, what is whispered to us by our most beloved ancestors. We are one. I am you. You are me. What I do to you I do to me. How I treat this planet and the living things that inhabit the earth is a reflection of how I treat myself.
Let us reapproach this relationship with love and reverence and gratitude.
