Tarnished Victories of 2022

Even though it might tarnish my “victory,” I’ve decided to come clean.

On Christmas Day, I played the spiritual board game Transformation with 2 friends.

Even though no fetch was involved and he really couldn’t participate directly, Vlad was generally supportive of our 3-hour activity.

More importantly, I received deep and insightful answers to my chosen question, my playing focus for the game.

The rules are complicated.

In fact, I suggest just skimming this next paragraph:

To complete the game you have to move through physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels; remove all pain on your life path, and clear your Unconscious Envelope of all the Insights, Setbacks, and Angels that you drew as your very first step.

Technically––as in much of the vibey/spiritual world––there is no actually winner…

(Although, as I’ve half-joked to many, “That’s something only losers say”.)

Even so, the instructions are vague as to what happens after the first player completes her or his journey.

Do the others keep playing…or simply go through the final steps without ceremony?

In any case, on this Christmas Day, I’m delight to say I “won” ––ie, I completed my game first.

Yet despite my (barely disguised) feeling of triumph, the slight tug of something being off kept nagging at the back of my brain.

Five days later, the mystery was revealed.

This Friday morning, chatting over cold brews with Robbie, I reached for my phone that had dropped to the side of my usual hosting seat.

(Remember again that our game was five days before.)

As I reached for my iPhone, my fingers encountered something unexpected:

A stray angel card.

Somehow it had fallen out of (or perhaps escaped from?) my Unconscious Envelope, retreating into the suede cushioning.

In some ways, this was a happy synchronicity.

Given that I was pondering the theme of this new month’s meditation, it was of course the perfect angel, particularly for January.

Thus, I’m delighted to share the new meditation celebrating Expansion HERE.

I’m not that troubled by the question but it does remain:

Given that I was actually one angel shy, did I actually “win” the game this Christmas?

If I text my playing friends this revelation, will they insist on a rematch of some kind…? 

Perhaps a self-invented spiritual “sudden death” round…?

It’s also very telling to me that the shy angel, the one who flew out of my envelope, was that of Expansion.

I hadn’t picked it as an explicit theme for 2023 but it suits what’s happening on all fronts perfectly.

(More about that in future newsletters VERY soon.)

Since it means moving into new and unknown territories, Expansion can be thrilling…and, at the same time,nothing is more likely to make you want to escape and hide in the chair cushions.

By the way, this week I actually wrote to the Findhorn Foundation, the creators of the game, asking about why the rules were so vague about completion and so specific about everything else.

They got back to me very quickly and sweetly, not quite answering the “why” of my question but detailing the “how.”

In particular, I loved the writer’s email conclusion.

After detailing all the possible ways to end playing, my correspondent suggested:

“You can set the parameter at the beginning
and the Game will know how to play with you.”

As we begin a new year, far more than resolutions, first I like the idea of setting some parameters, some guidelines for how we play the Game.

Secondly, there’s something amusing and deeply comforting about trusting that once you do, the Game / Life will know how to play with you.

Finally, to guide us, I’d like to close with advice directly from my runaway Angel Card:

“Open Upwards and Outwards
Rise above your current context.
Widen your perspective and let your life be more inclusive.
Keep growing and unfolding.

Growing and unfolding…That’s my wish for all of us in 2023 and beyond.

As always, I warmly invite you to celebrate our Expansion together.

Namaste for Now,