How a House Divided Me
My house had been on the market for six months when I suddenly felt overwhelmed and burned out with the whole process. I have three dogs and the constant cleaning, mopping, and vacating the place for showings was leaving me exhausted and reactive. My realtor urged me to lower the price and I did, only to become more frustrated with myself for giving in to something I didn’t want.
The frustration spilled into my business and my relationships. Even my dogs seemed to feel it! My puppy, who is just eight months old but weighs 75 lbs, was playing with a paper towel roll when my eight-year-old Bassett Hound attacked him. A dogfight broke out over a silly piece of cardboard.
My dogs are usually the best of friends. But, like so often in life, harmony is disrupted when something is put in front of us that we all want.
We see this in our country, our communities, and in our own lives.
It was a valuable lesson for me to realize that my house and its occupants—including me—were clearly out of alignment. It reminded me that, as humans, we become more reactive when we’re divided. That sense of division ripples out to the world in a negative way.
Ultimately, the only place we can build harmony is from within. When I tuned into my inner guidance, I kept getting the same message: retreat. I decided to regroup and take the house off the market.
What do you do when something within you is divided from your natural state of peace and harmony?
Do any of these signs sound familiar?
You’re tired, cranky, and reactive.
You find yourself ranting on Facebook.
You escape with drinking, overeating, or TV bingeing.
You’re gossipy and judgemental.
We need division to wake us up but then it’s up to us to shed light on our uneasiness and re-align with harmony. The question becomes: How can I step back and make harmony and gratitude a priority?
Harmony involves quieting the mind and spirit. This is best done, of course, through the breath.
The poet Rumi puts it beautifully in the poem called Only Breath:
I belong to the beloved, have seen the two
worlds as one and that one call to and know,
first, last, outer, inner, only that
breath breathing human being.
I’ve learned a lot about the importance of our human breath by studying whale energy. I bring the energy and wisdom of the whale totem to my healing sessions, where the focus is on harmonizing with the breath.
If you’re feeling or noticing signs of division in your life, come see me for a session.
A house divided will not stand. A body and mind divided are also headed for a fall. But the breath connects it all—the first, last, outer, and inner—into a harmonious whole.