Reciprocity
Wishing a Blessed Samhain to all who celebrate!! At 6:49am last Tuesday the moon was new again, so before morning She will be one quarter full.
The theme last month was Wanting, and in the closing for the post I’d said that “Receiving is contingent on generosity, reciprocity, consent, and a whole variety of other conditions – but the Wanting is solely on us.”
Years ago, after attending a conference, I had thought that I wanted to ‘Make Compassion Contagious’ – so I started an online presence called “Catch Compassion”. It still exists on Facebook and Twitter (for the time being). The philosophy behind it was simple – “Be grateful. Want without expectation. Accept with humility. Love without agenda. Make Compassion Contagious”.
As an aside, I’d realized in the past year that about the same time I’d had this epiphany, Deepak Chopra published an article entitled “How to Make Compassion Contagious” – further evidence that if the Universe wants to give birth to a concept, She will do it by any means necessary. I am grateful to have also been a conduit for this thought.
When the focus for the last cycle became “Wanting”, my mind turned toward that theme – ‘Wanting Without Expectation’. Those who know me understand that I believe that the Universe doesn’t understand negatives, and this created a paradox – how do I want “without” expectation and not use the word “without”? This thought experiment lead me down many roads, but I finally landed on ‘Want with Trust” – and I held to that during this cycle. As I explored various Wants – successful finger surgery, good band gigs, smoother times at work, etc. – I tried to place a sense of trust that the things I Wanted could be in line with the flow of the Universe.
As I thought about the focus for this cycle, I thought about both Trust and Balance – but I try not to re-use themes, and both of them have had their turns (in 2018 and 2019 respectively).
Earlier I recalled how I’d said that receiving was contingent on a variety of things, among them Reciprocity. This brought to mind times shared this summer with a wonderful soul who had spoken to me about Reciprocity. It was there that I’d found my focus for this cycle.
Wanting and receiving are sides of a similar coin. When we allow ourselves to slip into the stream of things being Reciprocal, we can find that we are not alone in our Wants – that what we Want might be what another desires to receive, and that what they are free to give fulfills our Wanting. This can be true of individuals, communities, or Everything. Where there is Reciprocity, there might also be balance and satisfaction – and in that space we may find ourselves able to share joy, not just receive it.
As the band continues to cover this companion song, its lyrics will hold a deeper meaning for me. Life is fuller when we realize that we do indeed reap what we sow, and we get what we give.
Categories: Blog, New Moon
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