When I was a little girl, my mother and I visited her acquaintance, an older lady living in the neighborhood. The lady had a beautiful, large melon seashell displayed on the coffee table. It was magnificent, so shiny and with orange marks. I found myself fascinated by it, trying to (to no avail) see the bottom of it, to find the beginning of the spiral. My mother told me: “if you put it against your ear and listen carefully, you’ll hear the sound of the ocean that resides within that seashell”. I had to use both hands to lift it up. As I brought it to my ear, I heard a clear and laud wooshing sound. That moment felt so magical…. my mother was right - an enchanted seashell contained the wholeness of the ocean!

Fast forward to today: this afternoon I kept feeling a longing to let go of all the things I’ve been carrying around… the expectations, the beliefs, you know, the usual suspects that like to linger and take our attention. I was resisting it, keeping myself busy with various activities. I was just a bit anxious about what was being asked of me and felt some fear around emptying my “vessel”, even for a moment. While looking through my night table drawer I found a lovely orange-white seashell, a miniature of the one I saw at the older lady’s house. I couldn’t recall where I got it. It made me pause. I thought: how lovely, if I empty myself I'll become like this little seashell. I will carry the sound of the whole ocean and perhaps even become the ocean. This idea felt really warm and beautiful to me at the time and it melted the fear of losing myself.

I lit two candles, sat down and allowed the emptying out process that I longed for so much. It felt important to get out of the way and just let things happen. Off went the expectations, the wants, the needs of how things should be, of how I should be feeling, the attachments to the close ones, attachments to those who hurt me... all this was just so unimportant and light. And it left, just like that, all of it, like a bunch of helium balloons. My own energy filled me up with such a joy, and I didn't need anything at all. Nothing! Now, I’m back to my "usual self" and some worries had returned, but that’s ok. The memory of becoming like the seashell makes me smile and I know I will allow it again soon.

Just thought I’d share this little moment here.

Namaste.

Margaret