The Portal Behind the Why

This morning, before I was even properly awake, I found myself dealing with a technical problem.

A Stripe account I'd set up barely a month ago was suddenly giving me all sorts of trouble.

My husband was practically pulling out what little hair he had left.

I, on the other hand, sat quietly, wondering:

Why is this happening?

Not just how do I fix it? but why is this happening now?

Once my husband left for work, I decided to approach the situation calmly.

At some point, my search led me to an old business email account I hardly ever check anymore.

And there it was.

An invitation from someone I deeply admire to participate in a collective channeling for the 11:11 portal.

An invitation I would almost certainly have missed if I hadn't been looking through that old inbox.

I said yes immediately. Without hesitation.

And suddenly, the entire morning made sense to me.

I smiled and said to Spirit:

All right. I saw it. I got the message. I've answered the call. Now can we please sort out this Stripe business?

And, of course, we did.

But it got me thinking.

When something goes wrong, our instinct is often to fight it, flee from it or become overwhelmed by it.

And when technology misbehaves during Mercury retrograde? We have an explanation ready.

Oh, it's Mercury retrograde!

We blame the planets and wait for everything to return to normal.

And quite often, it does.

But what if everything returns to normal, and we've missed the very opportunity the interruption brought into view?

We hear plenty of advice about taking deep breaths and regulating our nervous system. And for good reason. When we're no longer consumed by the immediate problem, we regain something valuable.

Perspective.

The ability to see connections, consider possibilities and ask questions beyond how do I make this stop?

For me, that question is often why?

What am I not seeing? Is there something requiring my attention? An opportunity to grow, contribute or offer myself for the highest and best good?

This morning, I was trying to regain access to a payment account. Instead, I discovered an opportunity to contribute to collective healing.

And I couldn't help appreciating the irony that the invitation itself concerned a portal.

We are so accustomed to treating interruptions as obstacles that we rarely consider whether they might also be openings.

We rush to restore things to the way they were, without noticing what the disruption has brought into view.

So the next time life throws you a curveball, I encourage you to resist the urge to charge straight through it.

Step away. Sit with it. Look again.

And ask yourself:

Where is this portal opening, and where is it inviting me to go?

Anna Mathys — The ChangeMaker

Earth Grid Keeping

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