The process of writing my Sekhmet Rising book chapter was an experience of wave after wave of Fire energy moving through me, bringing many insights and moments of self-discovery that continue to surface even now. The Fire continues to move, bringing new thoughts, deeper meaning and ways of being into my life day by day.
One of my biggest discoveries in that process was the extent to which I was still bound by many of the beliefs, values and attitudes of my early family system, still held in place by beliefs, values –even rules!-- that were not my own and no longer made any sense in my life. And one of the toughest of those rules was all about revealing who we truly are, revealing personal stuff about ourselves, revealing the truth of the thoughts and feelings that move inside us.
In my progress through the WEL-Systems programs over the past five years, I thought that I had overcome much of that early cultural conditioning, that I had explored and processed all that “old stuff” and found more authentic ways to move through my life and to speak up and speak out and express who I am in ways that are meaningful for me.
So in the process of writing my chapter I was surprised to find myself bumping up against all that “old stuff” again. The act of writing something so very personal for publication – really going public – gave my body lots to think about and process.
One of the things that resurfaced was the extent to which everyone in my family system had lived cloaked and masked. Private life was private, not to be revealed or spoken of – not even to each other. Modesty, propriety and appropriateness were worn like armour. I’m still amazed when I remember that my mother never undressed in my father’s presence – he saw her dressed, he saw her in her nightgown, yet he never witnessed her getting from one state to the other. And for my father, this was exactly how things should be. How do you keep that up for over 50 years of marriage?
I was just entering puberty when mini skirts happened. I think my father was almost apoplectic! The more interest I showed in the latest fashions, the closer he came to whisking me off to a nunnery! In a way, I was lucky that I attended a school that required us to wear a school uniform – that may be what saved me from the convent. And always, no matter what I chose to wear or not wear, there was a sense of “keep it covered, don’t let them know what you’ve got”, which went far deeper than anything to do with clothing the body.
For me, that cloaked, masked, private behaviour is a huge metaphor for how I had learned to live my life. We were so well cloaked that we were hidden from ourselves, lost to the potential that we held within us.
As all of those old thoughts, feelings and ideas moved through me in the writing process, once again new thoughts and new ways of being began to take shape in my life. Once again I became more simply by inviting and allowing what moves inside me to unfold and claiming for myself the truth of the experience.
Writing my chapter for the Sekhmet Rising book then really became an act of personal and public de-cloaking for me, not only revealing me to the world but also revealing so much more of me to me. That’s what I call an Act of Power.
The Founder of Griffin At Work, an Ottawa based consultancy, Susan Griffin is a certified WEL-Systems® Catalyst, CODE Model Coach™, Quantum TLC™ Facilitator and a Reiki Master-Teacher. She combines her life experience from a diverse background that includes technical writing, training, project management, her years as an independent consultant, and her work as a writer and artist with her expertise as a coach and facilitator to inspire others to claim their potential.
Reprinting: This article may be reproduced, provided it is reproduced in full with appropriate acknowledgement of the author, the source, and a weblink to www.griffinatwork.com
