Spirit Essence
I’ve been thinking about how my life and writing is guided by my spirit. This led me to find a definition of spirit and what it means to ‘Inspire Your Spirit.’ One of the definitions from the Oxford Canadian Dictionary is:
spirit • n. 1 a the vital animating essence of a person or animal
I think of horses when I reflect on the definition above. In central Alberta, Canada, close to the small town of Sundre, we have wild horses. They roam free, unencumbered by fences and owners. I feel their spirits soaring as they look over the western foothills, their manes flowing and swaying with the breeze. They canter, gallop, and step freely in only a way that a wild horse can. (As a side note, biologists figure that the wild horses of Alberta were all once domesticated, but they have broken away from the herds.)
Throughout the centuries, individuals trained and broke wild horses to ride for work-related activities or for entertainment. I’ve never seen a horse broke other than in a movie (or read about it in a book), and what I’ve learned is that they are worked around and around an arena, or corral, and motivated into a relaxed movement without causing undue stress and anxiety. The aim is to break or tame their spirit, molding it into a way that the animal will suit a particular job (etc.) per the owner’s needs.
In one case, we have a horse, which is free to live with their spirit roaming wild, and another horse who has had their spirit tamped into a manageable focus.
The analogy above could be the same for our own lives. We live in a society where we go to work; we struggle to fit into the norm and survive, doing jobs which may or may not apply to our purpose. How often do we allow our spirit to come out and play, to dictate our actions, to be powerful and energy giving?
Rudyard Kipling wrote: “People say that what we’re all seeking is the meaning of life . . . I think that what we’re really seeking is the experience of being alive.”
In social media, we see inspirational quotes about ‘Inspire Your Spirit.’ I think people are looking to step away from the herd, to lose our domesticated-ness and find free pasture where we can let our inhibitions out, find our spirit within, which sets us free, allowing us to roam to places that lift our hearts.
Personally, I inspire my spirit to stretch my imagination through writing, researching, and editing. I love taking walks and being in nature. When doing a craft, I let spirit guide my fingers. Sometimes I find I tamp down my spirit. My mind takes over and cries a long litany of ‘should do this’ and ‘should do that.’ Before I know it, I am walking with the herd again, my spirit buried, ignored until I need to allow it to come out and play for my own sanity.
Every day should have some time in it to let our spirit roam the valleys and foothills of life, smelling fresh air and letting the wind tickle our manes.
I searched the internet seeking ways to ‘Inspire Your Spirit’, and paraphrasing, I hope the small list below will guide you. May your spirit soar!
· Live day to day, positive and optimistic.
· Live with gratitude, be thankful.
· Try your best, be your best.
· Be authentic. Set yourself FREE!
· Live with openness, accepting the good as it comes.
· Grow, even if you feel a little uncomfortable.
· Believe you can, and you will!
· Brightness and light comes from within.
· Ignore negativity and responding to negative people.
· Be a good person, someone to look up to.
· Look at sunrises as an opportunity for growth, sunsets as an opportunity for renewal.
· Breathe, be in the moment, live in the present.
· Believe in yourself, your braveness, strength, and intellect.
· Do it now!
· Love wholeheartedly.
· Choose to be happy.
· Select peace over chaos.
· As life happens, be okay with it. Change strengthens us.
· Listen to the earth and nature.
· Find courage to let be and let go.
· Enjoy the ride of life.
· Give away your gifts and purpose of self to the world.
· Always learn new things.
· Peace is within.
And finally, my quote:
Let the music of life fill your heart, listen to the giddiness within, open the corral gate, kick up your heals, and look beyond to the hills toward what sets you free and allows spirit to come out and play.