I recently experienced the most wonderful phenomenon while cleaning. For those of you who dislike cleaning as much as I do, you’re probably sitting there wondering how that’s even possible. Well, let me explain.
The morning started off like any other cleaning frenzy day – windows open and music blaring while I sang along just as loud. I was listening to a playlist that I reunited with a couple of weeks ago. I was in the zone.
I’ve been on somewhat of a spiritual growth journey this past year and even more so over the past few months. I’m currently reading The Power of Now by Eckhart Toll and as I bopped along, my mind was marinating on the last chapter I read the night before when suddenly I tuned into the song that was radiating through my speakers. It was “December” by Collective Soul and it stopped me in my tracks.
I closed my eyes and started to feel the music, really feel the music. It was like time stood still. There was no where I needed to be, there was no worry of the past and no stress of the future, I was simply here, in the now. As the words permeated through my heart and tears gently kissed the cheeks of my face, I surrendered to the moment. Today was the day. Today was the day the Universe spoke to me and although I’m sure it was not the first time, it was the first time that I chose to stop and truly listen.
As I absorbed the words “Just tilt my sun towards your domain, your cup runneth over again, don’t worry about, don’t speak of doubt, turn your head now, baby, just spit me out”….. I couldn’t help but feel these words emanating through my soul with such power. “Tilt my sun towards your domain” — representing the sun, the energy of light and love shining on me. “The cup runneth over” symbolic of the abundance in my life. “Don’t worry about, don’t speak of doubt” — affirming words as I focus my energy on getting out of my head and into my heart. “And baby, just spit me out” emblematic of all the letting go I’ve done and continue to do of those things and people that no longer serve me. And of course, the creator of this message — Collective Soul — need I say more?
This experience, this phenomenon was about more than simply being present in the moment. I’ve done a lot of work on “presence” and in fact, I write about it in my book – Your Extraordinary Self. I tell of the first time this concept really hit home for me. I was in New York City with my family in December and we were walking through Central Park. It was unseasonably warm and the park was in full bloom. My stepfather and I were in a hurry trying to find the exit to get to the Museum of Natural History. Once we found it, we were so excited, but in our mission to get out of the park, we had lost the rest of our family. I doubled back in search of them and found them gathered around a flower bed admiring the roses. When I asked what they were doing, my mom said, they had stopped to smell the roses, literally. It was an “aha” moment for me as I realized that in our haste to get to the “next” thing – the Museum, I failed to acknowledge the miracle and beauty right before us – the flowers in bloom in NYC in the middle of December! From then on, I vowed to be intentional in each moment. To be fully present and aware. This has been a valuable lesson for me and has vastly improved my life – from the boardroom to the bedroom! But this. This “cleaning” experience, as I like to call it, has taken things to a whole new realm for me. The feeling was almost inexplicable but if I had to put it into words, I would say the feeling is the difference between being present in the moment and just Being.
Today, over 5 years after I discovered the art of “presence”, I have graduated from thinking about being present with my head to surrendering myself to the moment with my heart and soul. This moment in time, this 4 minute and 45 second song rocked my world and changed it forever. I have heard the song a hundred times before, but on this day, I truly heard it for the first time.