Spirals in (e)motion(s)

Despair and exhuberance are much closer than we think. They reside on the edge, facing each other at both ends of the spectrum of our emotions. Like antagonistic mirrors, they project opposite vibrations that color our heart with shades that will make it sink or fly. So naturally, for anyone who is a frequent visitor of those seemingly faraway poles, a most desirable knowledge is how to quickly shift back to the sunnier of the two.

As often, the shift in question happens within, and what matters here is our vision of reality. Once flat and linear, with everything feeling like a straight path from A to B, our perception of our time-continuum must now bend into a circular shape, akin to a spiral.

Now that we we’ve gone from lines to circles, it’s easy to see how close these opposites truly reside. So next time you find yourself orbiting close to both of your emotional equinoxes, feeling pulled in by the one that mirrors sadness into your heart, you might consider “jumping ships” right there, without having to go full circle again! After all, you’ve been here before, you will be here again, riding the spiral of life, each time with more wisdom under your cosmic belt. How exciting is that?

When it comes to polar opposites, spiral vision tells us that when you visit one, it’s easier than you think to visit the other…

Knowing that sadness and joy were easy to reverse (barring emotional earthquakes of course…) was a discovery that had me beam with wonder, a precious secret of life, a treasure tool to be used and shared without moderation. Emotions had morphed from an unpredictable emotional weather hazard into an actual choice…

Shifting emotions is basically a decision that we make. Imagine the deep, pure sound of a Tibetan bowl… it is instant and sharp, but its effects are long-lasting and powerful.

Once we’ve made our decision, it’s time to move through the steps that will take us to the other side, knowing that the bowl’s soundwaves have already traveled far ahead of us. The Tibetan bowl is our intention. Once we’ve ringed it in motion, it is our most powerful and benevolent guide.

A law… allow


I was always an avid reader of master-disciple stories, when one learns from a mysterious shaman or wise man/woman who shares profound insights and visions. I wanted this to happen to me, so I asked. And I received. Synchronicity brought Sotigui, an African griot from Mali, into my life, and I discovered the bliss of learning from a very wise man who carried with him the knowledge of thousands of years, a culture different from my own and a joy that was impossible not to feel in his presence. One of the things he always said was, “don’t force things. Don’t try to work on them so hard before their time, they will push back as hard as you did.” That was difficult to understand. I thought we were supposed to do precisely that in life, push as hard as we can…
He often added: “Avoid hastiness.” He said that with a calm, soothing tone that made me think about the village he described before his life in Paris. I imagined a slower pace and I felt an inner peace just thinking about it. More often than not, I had just hopped off the metro, hurrying up to keep up with the human sea pouring in and out, already thinking about my next appointment and I’m not even close to a type A, more like a type W or Z!
My head was spinning from the constant rush, an inevitable consequence of living in a metropolis… Or so I thought, until I walked the street and metro corridors with Sotigui and realized he was just as calm and composed as he was in his living room, sipping tea.

“You must miss Africa a lot. Do you have to go there often to resource?”, I once asked him during one of our numerous tea-pow wows in the Parisian suburb of Les Lilas. He thought for a moment, and said:
“I take Africa with me everywhere I go.” From his tone and the expression on his face, I could tell it was exactly how he felt. It wasn’t a figure of speech or an image designed to soothe homesickness, it was an actual fact. That’s how he could remain so calm and focused amidst urban chaos. His energy was stronger, more stable than that of the city surrounding him. And what he loved, he not only took everywhere with him, but shared generously. It was such a different outlook on life, letting it unfold and approaching it with patience, from ones own grounded center. Allowing things to happen. Allow almost sounds like “a-law”… It is actually the law that can bring into our life what has been eluding us.  Where the Will has failed miserably and repeatedly, the law of Allow may succeed.