Timing: The universe conspires

“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
~Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Almost two years ago, I wrote an email to three friends with whom I'd had similar conversations about living outside the conventions of society. I had recently become a convert to an Eat, Pray, Love philosophy, soon to discover Eckhart Tolle. The conversations were about living the life we dream of: travel, service, living on the edge and not necessarily pursuing the 2.5 kids or dog, led to the obvious question. \"How do we GET there?\"

Today I woke with a strong sense of purpose, but of course, no clear plan, I wrote to my friends. My main sense was to ask other women who are of the same mindset, who are finding their own path, to think and dream about what kind of work you want to be a part of, if you could create something and work within it. To start this conversation.

Two years later, I'm still on that path, paying attention to the present moment for hints of where to go, when to turn, when to move, when to be still. The changing of seasons has something to do with our timing, if only I lived where there were seasons. Thanksgiving eve and it was a balmy 75 degrees in Los Angeles today. But I know from living elsewhere that with winter and shorter days one takes more time to reflect, to light candles and fires and dream. (I'll post an excerpt soon from my \"learning to winter\" in Kosovo.) Perhaps my inner seasonal clock is still keeping track, telling me it's time to slow down, to dream, to envision what I want.

Time to dream about not just how to get there, but how to be there. Right now. Martha Beck writes about timing in this month's O magazine.

\"One of the things that changed my mind about timing was the recent book How We Decide, by Jonah Lehrer. The calculating part of the human brain, Lehrer writes, 'is like a computer operating system that was rushed to market.' It's slow, clunky, prone to errors — at least compared with the brain region associated with emotions. This highly developed area 'has been exquisitely refined by evolution ... so it can make fast decisions based on very little information.'\"

...\"Your nonverbal brain, then, is continuously registering incredibly subtle predictive clues. It communicates with your consciousness through emotions and hunches ... It can speed you up with anxiety or excitement, slow you down with fatigue and confusion, or help you feel balanced and relaxed.\"

(Read the full post on my blog The Butterfly Effect.)