April – To Open, derived from the Latin Aprilis, was the title the ancient Romans gave to this month. It is believed that Aprilis may have been associated with the Latin verb aperire, signifying “to open.”
When we look up the word OPEN the definitions hold the essence of spring if we read between the lines; not closed or blocked, allowing access or vision, unfold, spread out, not exclusive, expansive, not covered, exposed.
Honestly, since dropping the boys off at university in another country last summer, we have floundered a bit about the future of Livology. Is it an ending? Is it a beginning? Is it time to close this chapter? What is it without us all together? And then we stumbled upon the definition of open that gave us the answer.
Open: A passage or view through an empty space …
Our home feels a bit more empty, our car feels a bit more empty, and our lives feel a bit more empty. We know that only means a grand opening is imminent. We know Livology can be that for us if we allow it to open us up once again to standing in a place of possibility when we face a cavernous space ripe with uncertainty. A new season is dawning in every way.
Here we are, practicing the art of opening into the unknown, once again. Springtime in the Alps is cracking open parts of us that have been dormant in this time of adjustment. We are reinventing and coming back to ourselves all in one bated breath.
What does this mean for Livology?
We used to write a daily practice called the Livology LIVIT and we are bringing it back in a new and improved way. First, we heard from many of you that simply reading the LIVIT, even if you didn’t have 10 minutes to complete the practice, changed the course of your day for the better. Because we never planned to continue our nomadic lifestyle for over a decade, there came a time in our journey when we needed to find other jobs and ways to support this lifestyle. When that happened, we discontinued the LIVITS and we have just recently learned why we must bring them back.
Alignment creates momentum and our practice for staying in alignment was the LIVIT exercises. When we stopped writing them, our momentum carried us in alignment with our purpose, values, and vision for a long time because the LIVIT practices had become second nature. However, as in anything we practice, the further we stray from it, the less progress we feel until we almost forget our WHY. When the boys moved out, it highlighted that we needed to find alignment in a fresh direction, and that inquiry inspired many new questions.
When we were unsure of the direction of Livology, we were solicited often to accept advertisements, paid links, flashing banners, and book deals. The only voices we listened to were yours and ours. The overwhelming message was we needed to keep practicing together this thing called presence. After looking at all the possibilities for courses, newsletters, and eBooks we came full circle but from a new angle. The LIVITS were the foundation of our practice and we were touched to learn they provided that stability for many of you.
We knew the last 10 years of living deliberately would never have come about, and would certainly not have been sustainable, without this practice. This is our HOW and our WHY. Those of you with dedicated mindfulness practices understand the importance of this discipline to maintaining momentum, so…
Each month our blog will be about a word that captures a theme that tells a story from different cultural perspectives. The LIVITS will come out every Monday morning while you sleep. Just once a week, they will greet you wherever you are on your personal journey and take you where you wish to go when the time is right for you. They will be grounded in the theme of the month and they will be dedicated to enhancing presence and intention as you move through your week. In essence, they are there to OPEN you up to what matters most and align your path according to your heart intelligence.
A New Season
An opening within is not something that can necessarily be seen by others. It is a practice, a simple powerful shift into readiness. Sometimes it is a slight release and other times gigantic leaps of faith until our face turns toward the sun and willingness washes over us. Then we feel a shift, a click, and a path open up within, cracking like spring in the mountains. Growth is imminent from this open emptiness. We can now see our path through.
We look at every season as a window into ourselves, and it is time to OPEN in preparation for all that is to come.
To open is not to bloom rather it is the communication to the universe of the willingness to grow. The opening creates readiness, like the actor’s heart beating right before the curtain, or the tensing of a quiver on an archer’s body before she selects her bow; the barely discernible stirring of the water before the whale breathes; the audible weight of the frozen waterfall in the moment the sun sets it free again. We can almost feel the spring blooms pushing from beneath the soil as we wait with excited anticipation for their technicolor show.
April is about setting the stage of readiness within us. Can you feel it? What new beginnings are stirring in your corner of the globe? As W.B. Yeats wrote:
“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”
