It was Christmas of 2013.
My husband and I had family over to celebrate the occasion – exchange presents,
“break bread” and enjoy each other’s company.
Among several gifts my aunt brought to me, was a small
potted Cyclamen, a lovely little plant with delicate off white and pink
flowers. Although I was most grateful
for this nice gesture from my aunt, my first thought was “I’m going to kill
it!” I’d tried keeping one of these
little gems in the house before but it would invariably die!
For about two weeks, I’d been faithfully nurturing my little
potted plant, kept it in a sunny spot of the home, etc, but just like I’d prophesized, the plant was beginning to
wither and die – despite my efforts to keep it alive – it had other plans.
A night or two later, I had the strangest dream. I was walking along a street near my
neighborhood (at least it looked somewhat like a familiar street) when all of a
sudden I noticed a gardener in what appeared to be a Mobil gas station,
landscaping the perimeter of the property.
There he was, meticulously feeding and watering none other than Cyclamen. I took notice at how absolutely prolific and
healthy these flowers were. This
particular variety was a rich pink or fuchsia color with gorgeous waxy
leaves. They were lined around the
entire border of the gas station. I’d
not noticed them before. In fact, the lush landscape that surrounded this otherwise
ordinary property seemed totally out of context for a gas station, so it
clearly got my attention.
As I am keenly observing the beauty of this sight, I thought
to myself, “I wonder if he would be willing to plant my dying Cyclamen
plant?” After all, maybe it needed to be
planted in the ground rather than kept in its tiny pot.
With that I woke up!
I didn’t give it much thought, though I was curious as to what
significance, if any, this might have for me.
“These are the flowers I saw in the dream!”
Fast forward to February – My husband and I had traveled
from the east coast out to Los Angeles so I could cover the annual Conscious
Life Expo and do interviews for my radio program, Conscious Inquiry. During
our stay, we managed to steal away and do a little early Valentine’s Day celebration
at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills.
We had planned a spa day there, but prior to our spa treatments we
decided to have a glass of wine by the pool.
While relishing in the beauty of the hotel and the warmth of the day (a
far cry from the snow storm we gladly left behind on the east coast), I had the
most profound epiphany – while letting out a gasp so pronounced it startled my
husband, I said, “These are the
flowers I saw in the dream!” In fact, as
the details of the dream began to descend back into memory, I looked around me
and noticed that this was the place
I’d been dreaming of – poolside at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. As I scanned the entire perimeter of the
outside garden pool area, lined with bountiful fuchsia Cyclamen – that variety
which I’d seen exactly in my dream, I felt a shiver of recognition run through
my body. “This is the place,” I said to
my husband. I hadn’t shared the dream with
him prior to this, as I never felt the need to do so since at the time I felt
it had no significance – until now!
It was only months before, roughly in September that my
husband and I suffered greatly due to an abrupt downturn with our business that
brought extreme financial strain – a journey that nearly brought me to a state
of depression. Lasting for quite some
time, we’d both turned to some unconventional measures to help us through this
turbulent period – utilizing “unique” meditation methods, and other modalities
including dream sharing and visualization to assist us during this crisis.
Among one of the practices I’d insisted we try was for both
of us to commit a few minutes each day, to visualizing a scenario that we’d
find pleasurable. But it wouldn’t be
enough to just visualize the scene,
we’d have to manage to put ourselves in it
– really animate and illuminate it, so that it would become as real as we
could possibly imagine. We both agreed
to concentrate on a scene in which we were sitting at an airport gate, awaiting
our flight off to somewhere warm and beautiful!
We maintained our commitment to this little “feeling-visualization,”
despite the dire circumstances we were in, somehow feeling that if we could
imaginarily catapult ourselves out of this crisis, we could pull it’s reality
closer to us. In fact, I write at great
length about this excursion to the “Imaginal Realm” – and how we used our
dreams, visualizations and synchronicities to shift our reality out of a state
of crisis in my new book, Conscious Musings.
“I took the cues of the Universe – They came
in dreams, in peculiar, beautiful, powerful, and sometimes humorous
synchronicities – just enough to keep sane while riding out this storm.”
-From Conscious Musings
In the book, I discuss how synchronicities, if committed to
noticing, will show up in the most unlikely of ways and at the most unlikely
times, even if they are not noticed until weeks, months or even years
later! But if we can learn to hone our
gaze and take notice of the little (and sometimes not so little) winks and nods that the Universe gives,
we are sure to be supported in our own transformation, including the
transformation out of crisis!
While sitting at the Beverly Wilshire poolside, cocooned by
a bounty of gorgeous fuchsia Cyclamen lining the space, I recalled how merely
months ago, this scenario would seem nearly impossible. How would we manage an escape to a warm and
sunny place when at the time, making ends meet was top of mind? And then, I realized – it was our sense of
imagination – kicked into high gear that provided our own wink and nod back to the Universe – the vision, the dream that
would set the template of manifestation into motion.
Upon remembrance of the dream, the picture that I recalled,
the beautifully landscaped garden surrounding a Mobil Gas Station, still puzzled me. How was it that what I was seeing in the
dream was this hotel – identical to
what my eyes were scanning around me?
Why was it that this scene included a gas station? And then it dawned on me – I recalled the
familiar “Mobil” sign high above the station.
I suddenly knew the significance.
It’s as if the Universe was re-assuring me: “Despite what you think your
fate to be – you will soon be Mobile again
– free to travel and see these beautiful places!”
It all made sense!
As I state in Conscious Musings, as much as we would like to
know the significance of a sign (whether in a dream, waking state, or high atop
a gas station) at the time that it happens, if we can manage to trust in the
brilliance of the Universe, I’ve no doubt that it will meet us half way!
In this case, not only did it meet us half way, it carried
us 3,000 miles away for a little excursion that all started with a dying Cyclamen
plant!
Alexis Brooks is the best-selling author of Conscious Musings - Contemplations to Transform Life and Realize Potential and is the host of the popular Conscious Inquiry Radio program, exclusively presented by Conscious Life News. Visit Alexis on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube!
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