Yesod SheBeNetzach. Foundation within Eternity. Grounding within Endurance.
Perspiration (Netzach) + Inspiration (Hod) = Generative Creativity (Yesod).
What more do I need to say? Well, those who know me know that there is always a story... Each day, I begin my day with a half-hour of quiet meditation, which I usually refer to as Quiet Time. It is not because of some great virtue I possess that I do this day after day - I do it for my recovery. That was one of the myriad unexpected gifts of coming into recovery. I had always wished I was one of those people who could wake up early in the morning and meditate. It just seemed way beyond my reach. This is, without a doubt, the Foundation of my day and of my very life at this point. I'm not a master meditator, but I show up to it every single day, no matter what.
I have many ways of looking at, experienceing, and using this time to Ground me in my Day-to-Day. One of the images that came to me in the early years of this practice was of myself sitting by a crystal-clear stream. The stream is Quietude. I have a ladle and an old-fashioned wooden bucket. I go to the stream and collect the water, the Quiet, gently ladling it into my bucket. I know that now I have a supply of Quiet that I can carry into my day and draw upon any time I need it. I know those times will come, life being what it is.
Eventually, I started to experience my daily Quiet Time as a half-hour visit to Eternity. I couldn't possibly tell you the date that happened, but I remember the moment of realizing this was my chance to experience Eternity for a half-hour each day. What a wonderful, wide-open sensation! Just as with my bucket of cool, clear Quietude, I can draw on this whenever I need it, taking in a deep breath to open me back up to the Great Quiet.
When I take these breaths of Eternity in moments of stress, my head clears, and I am aware that ideas begin to flow, where just moments ago I had been stuck, paralyzed. I have re-opened the portal to my contact with G8d, and the Creativity of Yesod is free to flow once more.
Do you have a way of stocking up on Eternity? A way to Ground in this Great Fact each day?
Today, let us remember to breath in the Great Eternity, to reground ourselves within It, that we may easily Endure whatever the Day-to-Day may bring.
For the abbreviated version, visit me on Twitter.
For a couple of different Omer counting guides try mishkan.org or chabad.org.