5:00 a.m., April 30, 2016

I woke and realized that I had been dreaming of a deep pool with stones at the bottom of the pool that I could see – through the transparent blue. It reminded me of a painting I did long ago that I called, Still and Deep. I got out of bed and walked to my computer and sat, eyes closed – much as I do when I’m writing with Frank. The image of the painting remained with a part of a still pool reflecting the surrounding rocks, trees, mountain. But there is another part that is clear and allows a vision deep into the water where the stones are. I understood that the stones represent the work to be done in the depths.

The words began.

The deep work is soul work. What does that mean?

It means going down to the bones, down to the deepest parts in the pool and surveying what is there. Turning the rocks over, looking at them, placing them carefully next to each other in new ways – that fit, that align, that perhaps find new ways to be. It also means getting rid of those that don’t fit anymore – that aren’t needed, aren’t aligned. Each is studied carefully – and gently rubbed. Gently polished. And placed.

The deep soul work often isn’t apparent on the surface. And it has often little relationship to the surface qualities, the air of everyday living. Above the deep pool life is carried on in distractions and momentary process. Plans are made. Days are sometimes filled with meaningless meanderings from a list. I must go to the market. I need to stop and get mustard. I should go by and have George check this. Or that. Oh, and I need to be sure I leave time for this. Every day is the map. The list. The things to do. And deep below where the soul stones lay, it is quiet. Unattended. 

So what is the purpose of the deep soul work? The purpose is clarity. The purpose is to come to a place where the surface activity of life on earth is more closely connected to the depth. The connections between the two need to be created so that it is easier to move from one to the other. Right now it takes careful planning. Time has to be carved out from the endless activity in order to move to the depth. Sometimes it even feels impossible. I don’t have time to do it. I need to be in a better mental place to do it. I need to do this first.  

When the soul work is tended there is always time. And in just the end of a minute it is possible to slip quietly into that place without changing anything other than a sliver shift.

What is a sliver shift? It is the tiny, almost imperceptible shift in attention that is the opening to the depth. It can happen in conversation with another. Just pause and a shift. The words that come are from a different place that is deeper and more in line with the soul, the heart. One can even create a few words that become that opening into the sliver shift. “We shall see”. ‘It will be.” “Ahhhh.” Then it is important to remember to practice.

Meanwhile, the soul work – the deep soul work continues below.