Bones. I have been thinking about, imagining into and being with the power of bones lately.
The actual bones that provide skeletal structure to this body and the symbolic bones that we all must gather as we piece together a deeper narrative in the process of our own soulful becoming.
As usually seems to happen in my life, being one who has been called to walk in the in-between places – the space between the everyday world, and the rich loamy landscape of the symbolic world where image and metaphor guide us to the ‘something more’ voice of Soul – I am wildly present to the ‘something more’ story unfolding in these bones and this body I inhabit. I want to name it here as an offering to you…curious bread crumbs leading into the dark and sometimes scary terrain of your own soulful becoming.
The nuts and bolts, every day layer of this story is that my hips, pelvis and lower back have been in some pain for some while. Being one who navigates in the in-between places of life I have taken a layered approach to this body symptom and also looked at the symbols from my own inner landscape.
Through months of various interventions including deep structural and emotionally clearing bodywork, psycho-spiritual work, physical rest/modulation, supportive supplements and ritual work, although I have healed and learned a great deal, I am still in quite a lot of physical discomfort and limitation.
Simultaneously with this process, I have been reading old tales and motifs that are designed to speak to the deeper layers of the Psyche’s knowing as I prepare for facilitating a 3-month journey focusing on The Physical Body*.
An additional thread in this story, is that I have birthed a new project which this 3-month journey is part of. The gestation of this project has been the beginning place of this pelvic pain…laboring on all levels of experience. I had hoped the delivery of the ‘baby’ would relieve the discomfort. No such luck.
In my hunt to be free from the pain, I have been lead to confront the ways in which I energetically and in behavior, carry people, relationships and projects ‘on my hip’ or ‘on my back’ and the ways in which I over do and do not garner the support that would best serve me. I continue to do the difficult, scary and liberating work of speaking my truth with family and loved ones while also changing behaviors in alignment with this awareness. Even shifting my approach to what I create and share with the world has put me into a deeper right relationship with the bones of my truth and my life’s calling.
In the journey of my hurting and healing pelvis I am taking another step, an ‘experimental’ procedure at the leading edge. (I like this energy of being on the cutting edge of innovation and science, it is where many good things are born.)
I have already harvested many deep and life changing gems from this hunt for resolution. Now I am choosing to use the wealth and riches in my own bones. Deep in the center of our structure is the vital life force of our bone marrow, rich in stem cells, which have the power to regenerate tissue. To repair and grow more of what we need. To do what stem cells do best, work to generate healthy structures and return the body to a more vital life with less pain.
In preparation for this stem cell procedure I have been talking to my bones, to the connective tissue, ligaments, tendons, muscles and liquids of my body. I have been imagining my bone marrow, rich with stem cells, vital, vibrating, happy, healthy and fully alive. I have shifted what felt like fear into excitement and curiosity. I love that there is room, even in the sometimes cut and dry mechanical world of science, for the in-between terrain of soulful meaning making if you are one who knows how to listen, see and read the signs. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I am reminded of the story of Skeleton Woman who was a vital, spirited young woman who could not be controlled. The short version is: Her love is betrayed, she is killed and put at the bottom of the sea where she becomes bones. One day she is fished out of her deep resting place by a fisherman who runs, terrified by her bony rise from the depths. Tangled in his line she ‘follows’ him home where she tells him she wants to be truly loved and return to her life of flesh to love in return. The story goes that he takes on her desire and they fall into a deep love. Their love is the kind that reanimates the body and Soul. Their loving shows how to hold safe and sacred both the deep, dark and scary parts of inner life and the yummy life giving forces that we all long for through real love and connection.
I reflect on my new marriage and the life affirming love I feel with my husband. I also consider the ways in which I have betrayed myself and how we all live with our own betrayal of self love and truth. Then, if we are lucky, we fish up the bones we thought were long buried. We get the chance to take the long walk home, our ghost following us close on our heals…asking us to love it…to be made whole, holy and right.
I celebrate this more-than-meets-the-eye story of how the body is a magical ground for both the concrete, everyday layer of life that most people live in and the deeper mystical landscapes that call to us, begging us to listen… see and pay attention to the call of our Soul life. If we practice listening and leaning into this deeper knowing we can harvest many riches from the treasures of the deep.
Stay tuned for ‘the rest of the story’ as I continue on this treasure hunt of healing. I can hardly wait to see what will happen next!
Feel free to email Shannon about a referral to her stem cell doc. Shannon@ShannonSimonelli.com
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