Half of the year has already gone by, yet for me it has been a rich and enriching year. Several times I set off to take a break, to study or to rest. One of these, three weeks at the constellations retreat of Constellators International in Malta, gave me a boost. Not that I really needed one at that moment, but being completely immersed in the world of systemic constellations for such a long time does something to a person. Not only did I meet many interesting and kind colleagues from all over the world, I also began to see myself differently. My self-image as a facilitator of constellations changed. I saw my value and my expertise alongside those of the others. I saw what I had already contributed to the unfolding of systemic work in my fields of interest. It is no small thing. More than I had ever imagined. I saw the results of my whole process of growth. It touched my heart. With emotion, with acknowledgement of myself, with humility and simplicity. It touched my soul, which softly whispered: ‘You hadn’t realised it yet. Now you have.’ There is still a great deal of potential that may be shared more widely.
My soul whispered: ‘You hadn’t realised it yet. Now you have.’
In recent years I have faced serious challenges with my physical health. Since April, one of my knees has been letting me know day and night that it is not in top form. For three months now it has felt no shame in keeping me from my dreams at night and limiting my ability to move. At times the pain is unbearable. The search for healing and improvement is a challenging but extremely fascinating journey.
Many years ago I was given a constellation as a gift, in which four main themes emerged that would shape my life and in which I would become skilled. I have worked through the first three, and they have left me with a great deal of wisdom and knowledge. The fourth life theme was a conscious deepening into physical health. Well, I have been right in the middle of it for a few years now. Before you think I am complaining, let me stop that train of thought for a moment.
Just like other challenges, physical ailments are not there to annoy you, but to expand your conscious BEING. That expansion does come with plenty of ‘ouches’ and ‘ahs’, but it is an intriguing search between different worlds. Conventional medicine, which tells me without batting an eyelid that nothing can be done, and my intuition, which tells me otherwise. It is not always easy to follow the latter path and to understand its messages correctly, but the step-by-step improvement in the intensity and frequency of the pain confirms the path to follow. As always, the universe revolves around you and guides you not only to your own capacity for self-healing, but also to people with special knowledge or ways of working in this area. A path worth following, then.
Your physical ailments are not there to annoy you, but to expand your conscious BEING.
Just like last year with my coronary arteries, my body is now showing, through a different function, that the intense situations from my personal past are behind me, and that the body now has the strength to bring itself back into a healthier condition through so-called defects. It now has the energy for it, and the circumstances are favourable. That is how I see it. Immersing myself in the subject creates space and frees me from old patterns and a consciousness that no longer serves me. Those last two are not quite accurate, actually. The patterns and the old consciousness had already all but come loose. Otherwise the new could not settle in. In humble observation, I can only be grateful for so much ingenuity. How rich I am.
I say ‘YES’ to the invitation.
The greatest richness I experienced this summer, however, was of an entirely different nature. It had been years, it was not planned and it came completely unexpectedly. A simple proposal. An invitation to come camping. In the Ardennes, on the banks of the Semois. Mindful of my knee, I wondered whether this was really a good idea, but thirty seconds later I said ‘yes’ to the invitation. What is more healing than nature? What is more powerful than nature? Spending the night in a jungle tent overlooking the gently babbling Semois. Veils of dew floating above the river in the morning. A pair of swans visiting me regularly in the little inlet by my pitch. Ducklings romping together, doing a workout against the current or demonstrating where aircraft builders found their inspiration. An otter coming to inspect a tangle of dead branches. Tourists drifting by in their kayaks.
A happy memory surfaced, as if this situation were a miniature replica of my stay in the Amazon rainforest years ago, right beside a river, though without the tourists. Being surrounded by green from morning to night makes any need for a digital screen disappear. The screen I found myself in the middle of stretched three hundred and sixty degrees around me. Always up to date, never boring. A natural detox. I needed nothing else. I could have stayed for weeks. I had only just returned from a luxurious holiday by the sea. Yet my luxury here was far greater. It was the simplicity of everything that made me the richest woman of this summer. Good to realise once again that we do so many things that are not connected to nature. And yet there is a magical, invisible but certainly tangible healing process in it. Richness in simplicity. That is the greatest luxury. I am grateful.
With greetings full of zest for life
Hilde Van Bulck
