Review and Reflection: Tide 2 - Vywineut

As the season of spring comes to an end, so does the Tide of Vywineut.

June 21st is the summer solstice and thus the beginning of the season of summer and the end of spring. Vywineut ends on June 21st.

As this Tide ends, it is time to review and reflect on what has been learnt during this time of practising spirituality and going with the flow. To learn more about this Tide check out Tide 2: Vywineut.

My Expectations:

My expectations going into this Tide were that it was going to be similar to the previous Tide (Badineut). 

During Badineut, I set aside a time every week to meditate and conduct the practice associated with the Tide: ardzýn. During these weekly practices I discovered a lot about my inner-self and where I was at within myself. This gave me a lot to reflect on and review at the end of the Tide, and I kept a journal throughout that I referred to in order to keep track of my progress.

I was expecting this Tide to be the same - that I would practice spirituality on a set day every week, conducting the practice associated with the Tide (vitren) and make progress with my spirituality as a result of my reflections from Badineut. I was wrong.

My Reality:

The reality was not at all like that. And that's okay, because as I wrote in my blogpost at the beginning of the Tide: "This Tide is not a time for spiritual idealism or overreaching." 

This Tide has been all about going with the flow (the vywe). It has been about practising spirituality subtly and softly, allowing one's practice to flow around the state of one's self.

For myself during these past 6 weeks, I have settled into my new life in Kent. I have launched the Kibtisk Hub website. I have had job interviews, and succeeded in getting a job. I have had to commute to and from work, and also been house hunting for a next home. I can see why I haven't been able to commit to a set weekly practice. Yet, somehow, this Tide has still been just as spiritual as the previous one, if not more.

What I've Learnt:

In all of these life events that I have listed above, the need to appreciate vywe has been paramount. I have even taken to saying to myself "Bez vywe" ('This is the flow'), when things don't go to plan. If I miss a train, bez vywe. If we don't get a house we want, bez vywe. If it rains and I don't have my coat, bez vywe.

At one point during the previous Tide of Badineut, I observed that I react to things with anger instead of accepting them as they are. This Tide of Vywineut has enabled me to accept the flow of life, without anger, without expectation, without idealism. Things happen - this is the flow.

As such, whilst I have not achieved what I set out to do (practise spirituality and vitren, namely the Jesus Prayer, each Thursday of the Tide) I have achieved the reason of the Tide: acknowledging the two elements of spring (water and earth) and appreciating how earth diverts the flow of water, but the flow still reaches its goal. This Tide I have appreciated the flow, the vywe.

This constant appreciation for the vywe of life has made this Tide a much more spiritual time for me. Being mindful of the moment and acceptant of the course of events has brought me peace, and I'm sure is helping me heal. The gentle stream of spirituality being diverted by the earth of my heart as it flows will nevertheless reach its goal and nurture and soften my self. This is the flow.

What I've Read:

This Tide has also been a great time of reconstructing my theology and spirituality. I have read/listened to a lot of books, which thankfully my commute allows me to do. Some of these I am still working through, but all of them have contributed to my ability to appreciate the vywe in day-to-day life, and accept things as they are. They have also taught me to find God everywhere - that even God is part of this grand vywe we live in.

• Process Theology: A Basic Introduction by C. Robert Mesle

• Walking in the Woods: Go back to nature with the Japanese way of shinrin-yoku by Professor Yoshifumi Miyazaki

• God as Nature Sees God: A Christian Reading of the Tao Te Ching by John Mabry

• The Wandering Taoist by Deng Ming-Dao

I've also been listening to Father Richard Rohr's teachings on the Enneagram, and am hoping in the coming year to learn more from him about spirituality and contemplative prayer as I read/listen to his books.

Summary:

This Tide has not at all what I was expecting, but that is almost the point. Vywineut is a time to let go and let be. To put aside expectations and ideals and acknowledge and appreciate the independent flow of life, nature, and God. It is a time to notice the flow, and move in harmony with it. It is the Tide in which our spirituality becomes most like water, softly and subtly overcoming obstacles through gentle perseverance and redirection, but reaching the goal nonetheless. 

My goal for this Tide was to deepen my spirituality and heal my heart. I had planned to do this methodically, but various aspects of life served as obstacles to this method. My spirituality had to adapt, to change course, but the goal was still reached. I have deepened my spirituality and healed from my past in a gentle but constant way in my day-to-day life, appreciating the flow.

This Tide, the Kibtisk Method ironically has not been methodical at all. But that doesn't matter - bez vywe.