What's coming out of your mouth?
We're squarely into Gemini Season now, and we have a Mercury retrograde to boot! Since Mercury is the planet that rules the sign of Gemini, we're getting a good dose of these archetypal energies.
Hands raised if you've ever had one of these distinctly Gemini moments:
Told a trusted friend that you were doing well even though you weren't. "I'm so embarrassed this is happening again. If I'm honest, they'll think I'm a mess."
Replayed an important conversation in your mind over and over ... and OVER. "How dare she treat me that way!"
Walked away from a situation wishing you had the courage to say what was really in your heart. "Why couldn't I be more honest about my needs?"
Isn't it just the worst when your mind and your mouth don't align?
Sadly, we aren't really taught how to communicate effectively, intimately (with courage and vulnerability), or non-violently.
Hell, most folks don't even know how to respond when they're on the receiving end of kind and mature words or gestures!
Ineffective communication is the root of a lot of our problems, and yet, we often just can't do better, even if we truly wish we could.
Last week, I delved into Storytelling (Thought), one of Gemini's Spiritual Keynotes. I pointed out an important spiritual principle:
The majority of our suffering stems from the stories we tell about the challenges we face, rather than the challenge itself.
Communication is Part 2 of Gemini's Spiritual Keynote on Storytelling.
In other words, Storytelling involves both thinking and communicating.
Typically, we think of communication as being mostly verbal or a mixture of verbal and nonverbal information.
But there's another component to communication that is often overlooked: our behavior.
Our actions communicate as much — sometimes more! — as our words.
And have you ever noticed that the way you think about things effects the things you say and do?
In my personal and professional experience, the way a person communicates — whether it's behavioral, verbal or nonverbal — almost always has its roots in a deficiency story (aka "limiting belief").
Consider, too, that not communicating is a form of communicating!
>> Sometimes, those silent communiques are the loudest because it's in the silence, or the waiting, that our most painful deficiency stories arise and run amok.
He doesn't love me anymore!
I'm not important!!
I'll always fail!!!
I'm a bad parent!!!!
I'm worthless!!!!!
I'm not good enough for her!!!!!!
I did something wrong!!!!!!!
During Gemini Season, it's the perfect time to tune in to what's really playing on Radio so that you can learn more about your communication style.
What deficiency stories are narrating your life? Are they loud or sneaky?
Is your thinking in alignment with your communication or lack thereof?
Is there a way that you communicate that is ineffective or creates suffering? What's the story that leads to that behavior?
Right now, you can make great strides toward recognizing painful Storytelling about yourself, your loved ones, and even life and God.
Greater awareness about your thinking can help you communicate in a way that brings more love, ease and empowerment into your life.
Happily, Cosmic Trickster Mercury ends its retrograde (Rx) this Friday morning, June 3 at 1am PT!
>> One of my readers, Mark, asked, "How long does it take to recover from Mercury retrograde?"
What an excellent question Mark!
Mercury has what we call a "shadow period" before the Rx begins and after it's complete.
We typically start feeling it two weeks before Mercury begins its three-week retrograde motion, and again for two weeks after.
So for this Rx, the pre-shadow period began April 26 and ended when Mercury went Rx on May 9. The post shadow is June 3 – June 18.
During the shadow, we're encountering some of the same themes that we get during the Rx itself, though usually not so intensely, including:
Reflection or redoing, wonky electronics and car problems, miscommunications and mishaps, thinking about and hearing from folks from our past (including old lovers), etc.
>> Have a great Mercury Rx story? Please write me back and share it!
P.S. If you want to further explore how your thoughts create suffering and how you can tell different stories, then I recommend the life-changing work of Byron Katie.
>> LEARN MORE
