A Native American once told me that clouds reflect the soul of the river... One-sided images of everyday life barely, rarely, reflect what is wholly true, because TRUTH is TRANSPARENT and, day-to-day, we tend to see through a glass darkly. The images we take in have a way of impressing our state of wellbeing and superimposing the landscape of our soul--- mission central for the animation and imagination of our lives. Unkind actions and words don't originate in the un-circumferenced beauty of Soul, but from the unfiltered overlays that we allow to stagnate in our perceptions, much like dark clouds keep a bright and shining sunshine from our view. You've probably seen how a stormy picture can change right before your eyes, if you've ever taken off in an airplane and reached a higher elevation, above the storm clouds. The first time I experienced this, in my early 20's, I felt completely.transformed by the effect. It's when I first began to think about not allowing myself to enter the storms that could suddenly burst into my life, but rather, take out my umbrella, and know that it is just passing through...and I could trust that the sun was still shining, especially since I'd seen it with my own eyes. I learned that I could shift my thinking and elevate my perspective and, ultimately, change my experience from one of gloom or dread to one of joy. I've 
learned that, more than anything, we need each other to navigate through stormy weather, and, when I find myself weathering Life alone, a story becomes like an umbrella, and holds me together.
Telling stories is powerful. Storytelling is an inscription of THE WORD upon the soul...stories weave texture and color into the fabric of our communities and our lives. Stories have a way of allowing us to look at 'the other side' of an image. A story can be an illustration of Life in a mirror... reflecting sleeping giants of greatness in all of us.
While I've been surrounded by the world of real estate for more than a decade, I've been selling real estate for 5+ years, flying high the first few, then bracing myself against the storms of the present and past two years. 
I joined ActiveRAIN in April of 2007, but didn't post my first blog until December of that year, the time I was considering my exit from the marketplace. As I searched my soul for answers to questions I couldn't even seem to articulate, it dawned on me that, for me and my circumstances, my best direction was going to be to reach out online and develop myself and my business with web tools, applications and communities. It proved to be profitable, because it shifted my thinking and and elevated my perspective. For me, the ActiveRAIN community quickly became my favorite online vehicle. It operates like a flightcraft, with the infusion of constant insight, inspiration, instruction, food for thought and sharing of stories, it grows organically, recycling the rain from the river of drenched experiences in the marketplace and, I find, often breaks through clouds of disillusions---those one-sided images. When people can share their stories, people can grow. You can't put this on a spreadsheet or pinpoint it or because it is the elemental art of RAIN...the invisible aspect, the transparent truth that operates without any circumference of the soul. No matter what hour of the day or night I log on, there is so much contributed here, and the basic, overall direction is upwards. I'm unfailingly able to gather enough momentum to propel myself beyond the storms, whether gathering in a coffeeshop-style conversation on a blog or twitterfeed (where many ActiveRain friends connect), building "unintentional" relationships & often finding the most amazing FRIENDS that sometimes meet up in real places around the country, like ReBar Camps, Inman Connect, ReTechSouth conferences, BlogTalk Radio, and sometimes (like in the big state of Texas), they meet up just for the fun of it all. In life, complaining is easy, but expressing my gratitude is the highlighted part of my own story, and it's effortless.
And to every one of you that I've gotten to know here on Active Rain or will, your story is a blessing for the
chapters of my own life. THANK YOU for your stories, and may you always be able to SEE THROUGH your dark nights and shine through your days...your best reflection is one of transparency---just like the rain.
© Copyright 2009 - This posting is the property of Mara Hawks, All Rights Reserved.
Active in Alabama, Mara Hawks, REALTOR with FIRST REALTY of Auburn, AL, #1 Real Estate Team in Lee County, THE LEADER in professional real estate services in Auburn, Opelika & Lee County for over 3 decades! Committed to INTEGRITY, KNOWLEDGE & SERVICE.
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