the secrets of the cups - part II (the empty cup)

wall decals by wall to wall decals
The empty cup's secret is, and you may have guessed this already -

it's not really empty

There is no place of nothing that creation springs from - but there is a place of stillness.

From the place of stillness (which is the beginning place, the time of allowing, the time of winter) anything can happen.

Most times when we say we want to be happy and we aren't it's because we don't really value happiness - we really value something else - sometimes we value our reputation more than our happiness, sometimes what we really value is safety.

If we really valued happiness it would be easy to let go of that thing that doesn't make us happy. Children do it all the time. And anything we could do as a child we can do now, anything we knew then we still know now - we have just forgotten our knowing - we've lost touch. It hasn't gone anywhere.

If someone is really unhappy and wanting to break up with her boyfriend - her friends would probably never say to her "well, you need to meet someone new before you break up with him - don't make any move until you have lined up someone else" - in fact, most friends would give her the opposite advice "take your time, sit with yourself for a while, rebound relationships don't work, yada, yada".

But, we tell people who are unhappy with their jobs to wait until they have something else lined up all the time.

[ And, one thing about rebound relationships - 
they actually do work -
because it's not their job to make us safe or happy forever,
nothing outside of ourself gets that job,
it's their job to break our holding pattern -
to bring us to the place of the empty cup -
and they are really good at that ] 

Now, I get that mama needs to bring home the bacon, but mama needs to be mindful of where that bacon actually comes from (and I am not talking pigs here) - because that bacon and wait, let's switch to the word moula (pronounced moola - it's Jersey for money if you are unfamiliar) because I am starting to feel sorry for the pig -

the moula doesn't come from the job - it comes through the job, but it doesn't come from the job - the moula comes from the Universe (God/Higher Self - we should pick our most comfortable word here because we really need to get this and hold it in a place we vibrate with) - the money comes from Source.

I have a niece who is divorced. She needs to go back to court about child support with her ex and is worried that she will not get the amount of money she needs from him. My advice to her is always the same - to remember the money doesn't come from the ex - it may be coming through him, but it doesn't come from him. Her source is the Universe. This was her source when she was married, too - it just looked like her money was coming from her husband's paycheck when in fact Source sent her her husband! The way the money gets to her may change, but her connection to Source is eternal.

(so she sets her intention for what she needs to flow to her effortlessly for the highest good of everyone involved and releases the need for it to come from the ex - note - this doesn't mean that she doesn't go to court and seek a fair payment because action matters, it means she knows that she is ok no matter what happens - she knows her cup isn't really empty even when it looks like it is)

This isn't New Age gobbledy goop. It may be Old-Age goobledy goop (but I don't think so - ha!) - if you resonate with any of this, but not anything New Age check out Florence Scovel Shinn's work, a Jersey girl from the 1800's who knew a thing or two about a thing or two.

Now, I am not saying we should all run out and quit a job we are not loving. There are lots of lessons to be learned from jobs we are not loving (because any kind of learning leads to expansion and expansion is our real job here) - my favorite uncle used to say that you were not really a grown up until you "took a job you didn't want and lost a job you really did".

I am saying that when we get to the place of the empty cup - we often need to step away from the actionable life to gain perspective. 

So, I am not saying we should quit the job we hate, but I am not saying we shouldn't either. It may seem more logical to line up the next thing first, but I am just not sure that what is logical is necessarily true.

[ Rebound jobs and businesses work, too - Etsy is actually a great rebound business. The work of an Etsy shop takes us into the vibration of creativity and community no matter
how much money it channels to us. We expand.]

It is always possible to start a meditation practice and start a new life from a place of gratitude for what we already have

(without leaving that job since the money comes through it, but not from it)

gratitude for what we have is a great bridge from the stuff we don't want to the stuff we do, especially when we don't know what that stuff is yet. The vibration of "I am grateful for this" brings us to a place of more of "this" - we just line up with it, it can't not come to us.

So, we make a list of all the good things we get from the thing we are looking to leave, but think we can't - and we focus on this list. We set an intention for these good things which actually come from Source to find another way to reach us.

We are grateful for the paycheck but not the job. We are grateful for the sense of connection that comes from the people we work with but not the job.

We find we can go to work with a new passion and gratitude - we jump into a new vibration. From that new vibration all kinds of little (and big) synchronicities will start to be drawn into our life and most importantly the empty cup with allow us to notice them. We get to the place of allowing and then we take action from there.

Up Next Part III - the leaky cup

xo all

One of the central teachings of the Course in Miracles is "Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God."

It teaches that if you can lose it - it isn't real. This is something it can take a while to wrap our heads around (but an instant to feel its truth in our heart) and some people may never vibrate with this (and that is totally ok - we are all here to learn different stuff), but if we do, it's a life changer.

7 comments

lynn bowes said...

Oh. My. God.

I am now, in the here and now, looking back at my work (bench and tent) in a wholly different way.

My ears are ringing - I'm that light.

KJ said...

I actually like getting a paycheck, I am just not as particular as I should be about how large it should be.

Again and again I find myself in jobs where it is my responsibility to help those most in need- right now that is Veterans, previously is was abused and neglected children, and at other various times it has been the elderly. I am pretty darn good at helping people find what they need.

As for being happy, mostly I am, but I really am content.

Catherine Ivins said...

tent? tent? Lynn? xo

Kathy - focusing on the money never worked for me either - I liked paychecks, too- I especially liked paydays - that sense of completion - being pretty good at helping people find what they need is probably the best way I have ever heard anyone describe what they are good at

Anonymous said...

...If you can lose it, it isn't real...


Wow! It's amazing how my soul leaped reading that.

That next breath was pretty spectacular.

A. (Not as in anon, but still anon because I haven't found the right blog title yet. It needs to feel right. lol)

DancingMooney said...

You should write movies woman. Or at least Ted talks. You just have a way of saying it like it makes sense. Keep going. :)

Catherine Ivins said...

thank you so much Janell! A- the course in miracles is pretty powerful - I've worked through it twice - one lesson a day for a year - the first time I really trudged through - it can be hard going - that one lesson is the main lesson of the entire course - if it leaps out at you - you should probably grab the book xo

Cait Throop said...

Hmmm...after fretting about money, worrying about husband's job, thinking about money all the time, getting ill because of worrying about money, this really resonated with me. For the past several years after healing I have let go the worry and refocused on my creativity instead. The money is coming (some months are better than others) and I'm so much freer to just be! Thanks for a wonderful post!