Imaginal Cells

It seems that since that fateful day in January 2006, my life has been a constant stream of turning points.  From that small gathering in January 2006 came the Declaration of Evolution by Intention, the Sekhmet Rising book, Emerging Futures as a process for mindful and meaningful living, a profound shift in the approach to ‘certification’, new direction for working with women, release of the 3rd edition of Fully Alive redesigned five-day intensives, new four-day women’s retreats to awaken an Emerging Futures way of engaging the world, a Huna retreat in Hawaii, powerful and compelling new audio products including my personal favourite Leadership Redefined – Reclaimed…. and lots of other things I can’t even remember!  

And yes, one more thing : I continue to work on the  ideas for the next book.  And therein lies part of the challenge.  As I live the process of what I write about, my life keeps shifting!  Not just little twists and turns here and there, but big leaps from one place to the next, often seemingly unrelated and ultimately revealing the connections that underlie the direction.  As an example, although I had no idea at the time, I now know that Fully Alive, Phoenix Rising and the new Emerging Futures book are all connected – each whole and complete in itself and yet each a part of a greater whole.  I can see that now and had no sense of any of it when I was writing each book.  It was not until I began writing this book that the other pieces fell into place. And I know there is already more… just waiting to flow and allow itself to be witnessed. 

It’s been an amazing two years!  MY life is changing, and with it so are my connection to my Self, my connections to the people I love, and my connections to my work and those who are attracted to engage in these processes with me.  It seems that what was a perfect fit in January 2006 has long been overtaken by growth, discovery, awakening and accelerated change.  I’m not complaining – just noticing that everything has consequences. 

My greatest gift to myself was the day I realized that there is nothing for me to be but myself and nothing for me to do but live fully.  When I am able to engage that way, something happens and doors open, not only for me but for those who have chosen to engage with me.  Insights that lead to expanded lives become the norm within these small collectives.  Those present and engaging wake up to their lives, recognizing that they have been launched into new ways of seeing and being.  They also discover that not everyone is willing or able to see what they see, hear what they hear and know what they know. 

During the last Emerging Futures:Entrepreneurial Women retreat,  one of the women talked about the caterpillar/butterfly transformation.  What was different for me was her reference to a ‘pulse’ in the goop and how the butterfly begins to form itself around this pulse.  I got curious about this (recognizing the notion of the pulse as that of the signal) and searched the web for info.  Along the way, I discovered the idea of ‘imaginal cells’ and the unfolding process of these.  (A search on ‘imaginal cells’ will bring up many different-yet-the-same stories.)  Amazing little things!  

I know in my own body what it is to be an imaginal cell.  I am privileged to spend my life with women who are these imaginal cells in their worlds/lives.  What struck me about this notion of imaginal cells is that their very language suggests that they are not ‘real’ or ‘fixed’ or ‘static’.  They represent the notions of ‘can be anything’ – just like my imagination can create anything.  There is no past to these imaginal cells – there is only the potential they invite in the moment and what streams from that. 

Imagine!  Daring to live my life from the moment-to-moment of the ‘now’ without being tied to history!  There are many who would feel compelled to prove that way to be ‘wrong’.  There are those who would offer evidence that it cannot even be so.  And yet, caterpillars and butterflies abound!  They came from this pure potential and created the imaginable. 

As I approach my 58th birthday, I revisit my own journey as the caterpillar in my life.  My desire to know more of who I am began at the age of 18; and somewhere along that 40 year trek of personal growth/development/evolution of consciousness, I lost interest in who I am and gained great insight into WHAT I AM!  In that realm of exploration, I discovered that I don’t have to ‘know’.  I don’t have to be ‘right’.  I don’t even have to have answers!  All I need is to be willing and able to live fully; to engage mySelf from one breath to the next… and to attend to the pulse and watch for the butterfly.  

Letting go of my to-the-death commitment to the Newtonian being that I was taught to believe I am (the caterpillar) and trusting that the goop that my life became would be my gateway; listening for the pulse or signal that I AM and trusting enough to engage awakened me to the Quantum Biological Human (the butterfly) that I AM.   

It leaves me wondering:  does the butterfly know that it was once a caterpillar?  Does caterpillar memory live in the butterfly?  I have no answers for these and I do know that the Quantum Biological Human that I AM recognizes ‘caterpillar-ness’ in its expressions.  That I see it, and know it and am familiar with and to it, does not mean that I have to embrace it.  

I can choose to fly! 

Breathing is good…