You are cordially invited as our Guest of Honour!
Who does not love to receive a handwritten invitation? Curiosity arising like the flutter of butterfly wings when engaging the handwriting, subtle, yet almost imperceptibly glorious. Who could it be from? The letters ‘Yours Truly’ dance with the passion of a tango across your line of vision. You begin to feel the excitement in your bones.
More questions dawn in your awareness. What is the event about? Why were you chosen to be the Guest of Honour? Did Lady Luck bless you today? Your chest rises and expands in importance and your spine elongates, as you carefully open the fragrant envelope with nervous fingers all competing to be the one that unfolds the mystery.
In the footsteps and company of greatness!
An understatement for sure, as a sense of excitement, curiosity, mystery, wonder, awe, and anticipation fills the air…
Who will we encounter and meet? What will we discover? What will we experience? What will happen there?
A feeling of being valued, appreciated, recognized, remembered and important to have been included on the guest list emerges, better yet a guest of honour – a sense of inner pride and acknowledgement – which feels so good, regardless of whether we are about to accept the invitation or not…
A nudge that you cannot explain draws your eyes to the stamp on the envelope just as you are about to unveil the contents of the envelope. (For some of you, born after the arrival of the internet, the following may not be part of your current reality, yet at one time in the distant past, this is how humans communicated over long distances.) It is posted at the Post Office in ‘Gateway to the Possible’. Where could that be? How mysterious indeed?
It is the date that causes ripples of delight entangled in a tiny bit of anxiety, to run and dance down your spine. You look again. And yes, your eyes are still serving you well. It is an invitation from the future! 31 December 2071…
Our ancient future!
You pinch yourself. Are you dreaming or awake? Maybe finding yourself in a sci-fi movie of sorts? Yet you are fully aware of your environment in this reality in this moment, here at the end of the year 2021, or the beginning of 2022, or whenever you receive this invitation.
50 years! ‘Imagine what the world will look like then?’ you murmur. Being invited as a guest of honour by this generous and benevolent future pregnant with serendipitous encounters and events, is quite something. You can feel each moment emerging and arising filled to the brim with abundant possibility! And you realize you are not fearful of the future, neither trapped in the past! Suchness simply keep you busy, occupied, and distracted from what is important here in the present moment. Nor are you cynic, single- and close-minded, sceptic, or caught up in some drama or outdated and no longer relevant pattern…
‘Bring it on!’, you respond, thrilled to your core! You are so ready and willing to expand your perception, explore other possibilities, enrich your experiences, encounter newness, and co-create a future that feels like this! And you know, yes, deep inside, that it is free and abundant!
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Back to the now! Some will say luck is when the stars align. Yet, inside the envelope that now feels alive, there is a single note with these words by Seneca. What a strange invitation? No details of the event, just these 9 words. You read them out loud, slowly, syllable by syllable, almost afraid there is something hiding behind them, something not-so-obvious, that you may miss out on.
You are aware that some sadly will not even consider the invitation. Maybe their attention is scattered, too many options, which creates confusion and doubt, maybe too many requests for their attention, too much going on, or too much to manage and control. No time to do something out of character, something unfamiliar, mysterious, and something out of routine. Something that has the potential to flip their world around, which will make them feel totally alive, not merely existing. Even if for the first time. Who knows what can happen here in the spaces between the words and behind them?
However, it does not matter. What matters is your response to this peculiar invitation, mailed at the ‘Gateway to the Possible’ from the future!
Strange Encounters
You read those 9 prolific words out loud again. This time it feels like a declaration. It feels as if, when repeated, you can feel a shift. And your curious mind is at peace, it is not wondering around. Rather filled with a sense of awe and wonder at this precious moment and unfoldment.
Then something interesting happens. The Feast and The Raft! These words dance through your awareness. Who said that? You look around. There is no one but you. Again, The Feast and The Raft. ‘What is that about?’ you wonder.
Flirting with Existence
Life simply wants a YES! And coherent and congruent one, body, mind, heart, and soul aligned. Yet, what does a raft and a feast have to do with your invitation to be the guest of honour of the future?
Let me shed some light on it for you so you can be able to make the connection. Believing me, it will all come together soon.
The Raft
A hiker, on his way up the mountain meets a man carrying a raft on his shoulders. Curious about this strange incident he asked why the man is carrying a raft on his shoulders. The man responds that he needed it when he was travelling close to the sea during another trip, thus now he carries the raft with him in case he needs it. The hiker frowns and responds that there are no rivers here on the mountain. *
This is what we do when we go through life. We carry the world on our shoulders and all sorts of things with us that we no longer need, whether outdated, no longer relevant, and limiting worldviews, mindsets, beliefs, frames of references, point of views, preconceived ideas, behaviours, emotional reactions, coping mechanisms, systems, and structures.
There is no space for a sense of awe and wonder, or to engage life in its fullness. Life passes us by, and we feel unfulfilled, exhausted, stressed, worried, anxious, panic, uncertain, confused, overwhelmed, tense, irritable, frustrated, doubtful, distrustful, and disheartened. What might have served us well or gave a pleasure now feels like a burden, a duty, and an obligation.
How does that work for you? If it does, then say no to this mysterious invitation. Else, meander forth…
The Feast
Will the idea of a bountiful feast change your mind or make you reconsider? Let’s explore.
There once was a feast. The King was heartily in his cups. He saw a learned scholar walk by, “Bring him in and give him some of this fine wine.” Servants rushed out and brought the man to the king’s table, but he was not receptive.
“I had rather drink poison! I have never tasted wine and never will! Take it away from me.” He kept on with these loud refusals, disturbing the atmosphere of the feast.**
This is what some humans do when they are invited to join the luscious table of LIFE and the Field of Possibility. Someone who has heard about possibility, but never tasted it, disrupts the banquet.
Will you join the feast?
Trade your cleverness and embrace bewilderment
An invitation of the same wise man who shared the story of the feast. He believed that cleverness is mere opinion, and bewilderness is intuition and being receptive.
We are all born creative and receptive, with the ability to explore, co-create, and experiment. Simply watch small children play. Fearless. Adventurous. Curious. Filled with a sense of Awe and Wonder. Challenging gravity and the status quo. Energetic.
Push the envelope
Tune into the field of possibility. Stretch and exercise your adventurous and curious muscles. Upgrade your mental software. Open up to serendipitous encounters that are pleasant, meaningful, and significant. Who knows what we will discover together?
All you need to do is to say YES and to leave your raft behind and join the feast. With an open mind and heart you will experience pure bliss! It will soon become clear what it means to be the Guest of Honour at this Feast and Adventure, here at the Gateway to the Possible! The year 2071 has much to reveal!
Credits:
* Alberto Vivoldo
**Rumi
