A call from beyond
It is late for me. 7:00 am. I am sitting on the side of the bed. The sun is rising. Window open. The air is cool and crisp. The crows are letting themselves be known. I hear the sounds of children and the tinkle of a dog collar.
I awakened today to the call of my name, “Jara“. It was not of this world. It was not a cry of fear or alarm but rather, now that I think of it, a call to be — fully.
I got out of bed, went to the kitchen, gave my husband a kiss and then returned to bed to meditate. I think we all need our space to greet the day, so I try to respect his and mine in the morning.
Meditating is a new practice for me. I find it nourishing in ways I had not expected. As I sat with what surfaced from my daily devotion, one word was clear. It was as clear as my name being spoken this morning from somewhere and someone...
Unencumbered. This is what I seek.
To be grounded but untethered.
To be alive and free to explore all that might be.
To be as fully me — which is always changing — as I can be while encouraging and inviting others to do the same.
I cannot wait to release myself from the limitations and shackles of my own thinking and that of others and society.
I feel lighter already.
*This blog was written on February 17, 2021
About The Author:
Jara Dean-Coffey (jdc) is Founder and Director of the Equitable Evaluation Initiative and the Founder of Luminare Group. For the past twenty-five years, she has partnered with clients and colleagues to elevate their collective understanding of the relationship between values, context, strategy and evaluation and shifting our practices so that they are more fully in service of equity. For more about musings + machinations click here
