This is the second in a series of articles entitled “Cycles of Seven.” They contain a personal review of my life grouped into stages of 7 years. Each cycle carries an emphasis on a specific range of personal awakening and acknowledgement as viewed by Being.
The intent in sharing this is so that any who read this might create their own life overview and may find rest in the memories and experiences, both remembered and forgotten. Then perhaps closure may occur in the unresolved places of life as they fall away. Then there can be the experience of gratefulness for the happy, fulfilled moments so that they can be placed into the stream of the future adding to the richness now.
These are in a bulleted format because they are vignettes of thoughts and impressions.
Ages 8-14 years – the Pituitary – design and control begins to emerge. The spirit of the womb (Protect the innocence; may I never lose it).
- The time of imagination. Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
- This time of conscious awakening is intensely impressionable. Others outside the immediate family begin to influence who I “think” I am.
- The first awareness of wanting to love and be loved and to become a part of “something”.
- The dynamics of placement: Where do I fit in my family, my community, my religion, my social structure? There are rules and regulations. The coping skills begin to take shape.
- The first awareness of larger influences: I have a body, a home, I live in a town, a country, a planet in a solar system, and I am part of a galaxy and a universe. Wow!
- The emphasis is on connection, realizing Love is unique to each relationship. There are many dynamics with every person and situation. How do I handle all these? I am a sibling—I have an older sister and a younger brother. I have parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends, peers.
- Looking up to authority figures: Beginning to look beyond parental influence and trusting others. This is BIG. This is a time for “heroes”. I begin to admire and mimic their qualities. These ones will influence my direction in life from the type of education I choose to the career I will set as my life’s work—teachers, religious figures, sports figures, social directors (cub scout, boy scout leaders)
- Disappointments and joys are mixed: I want what my friends have! I feel things so deeply and I begin to bury them. I can’t show weakness. I’ll be laughed at if I cry. Self-consciousness begins. I begin to lose the carefree, fun, playful “me”. I must go to school, do homework, share in church activities, and participate in sports. I have little time to think, be alone and pray. Busy, busy, busy. There is no Santa, no Easter bunny, no tooth fairy and stuffed animals aren’t real. If this is so, why was I told about them at all? There is magic, wonder, endless joy in all these things. I will hold them forever in my heart.
The time for the pituitary (womb) primarily focuses on the fledgling maturing of the endocrine system, of learning to receive information from the outside world gathered by the hypothalamus and conveyed from there to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland. This is a catalyst time for exponential growth and development. Our constitution for the rest of our lives is determined by what occurs in these 7 years and is key to creating the ability to overcome obstacles and greet challenges as opportunities not barriers. Recovering easily and learning self-reliance begins during this time period. This is a critical phase of lighting the fire of confidence physically, mentally and emotionally. The guidance systems of the conscious and subconscious minds are awakening. A sense of what is true and untrue at a gut level develops. From ages 1-7 I learned what “hot” means and from ages 8-14 I began to experience the fire.
Mantra: I am intimately aware of the wonder years. My parents, siblings and the life I have chosen are perfect for what I came to do. Difficulties are momentary if I keep my heart open and never lose my innocence, “ Being” ever excited about the beauty I have imagined life is.
Joseph