Frikin’ Spiritual Growth
A few weeks ago I got an idea for an article and began to write about its connection with this year as “The Year of Being In the Present Moment.” But as I was writing I began to think about how most of the year was very pleasant and then suddenly it all changed. Then I thought, “Hey, it’s February. Last year was the Year of Being in the Present Moment. We’re in a new year now. So what the heck is the title for this year? It feels like I’m going from the frying pan into the fire. OH MAN, the title for this year is “Frikin’ Spiritual Growth.”
That reminded me of the process of annealing silver, which I learned to do in a jewelry making class I took in college. We worked with sheets of silver that we sawed to the desired shape, mainly for earrings pendants and bracelets, and then hammered into its final form. Because a certain amount of hammering makes the silver brittle the only way to avoid it cracking was to heat it up past red hot, to the point where it flashed white. The silver would then be dropped into cold water. After that we could begin hammering it again.
Annealing re-crystalizes the silver, softening it, relieving it of internal stress and refining it to improve its cold working properties.
So, this is the year where the hammering of our ego temporarily stops and we get thrown into the fire that heats us beyond red hot, until we re-crystalize in a flash. Of course the end result is a thing of great beauty but until then it may help to get through the fire and the hammering by repeatedly saying “Frikin’ Spiritual Growth!” It’s what I do.
Personal Development | Barbara February 26, 2010 | 
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