My favorite place growing up was the pool and my Mom literally would have to pull me out at the end of the day. I could spend hours spinning, twirling, swimming, and having tea at the bottom of the pool all by myself. So it makes sense that I grew up swimming on the swim team. To this day, I still swim laps almost every morning. I love the sound of the water in my ears and the zen-like state I can achieve from the steady pace.
Now, if you have ever been a swimmer, you will know what it is like to get in and out of a Speedo (or Tyr) bathing suit. It sucks! Every single morning in the shower after my swim I think to myself, you know, a swimmer’s workout really isn’t done until we are out of suits…Because when you are standing in the shower after a long swim, your arms are spent, your body is tired, and you still have to figure out a way to get the vacuum-sealed swimsuit. The struggle is real.
And so of course, this got me thinking about the idea of struggle and the Wood element. I talk a lot about the elements and their emotional associations and when we talk about Wood we tend to talk about anger and frustration. It is often said that the anger of Wood comes from being out of alignment with our life plan or the frustration that arises when something disrupts our vision or plan.
But as I struggled out of my suit for the gazillionth time, I realized that it isn’t just about alignment. Wood energy is the energy it takes to push through something like a sprout pushing through concrete to bloom in the streets of NYC. I have often thought it would take incredible power to do this, and yet that shoot that springs up looks so young and vulnerable. But our Wood energy IS the power it takes to do this and it is FUELED by that anger. That frustration gives us just enough energy to push. It takes a little bit of anger, that inner growl, that last “fuck it”, to break through.
And this is the energy of struggle. We kind of wrestle with an emotion, a situation, a desire for something different, until we have had enough and we tap into that inner strength reserve and a little bit of determination, grit, and anger, and channel that into a singular purpose, CHANGE!
In Human Design, there is anger and frustration all over the place as we learn to live in our type. But instead of it being about “not being in alignment with our life purpose”, it is actually a sign that we are. That we are just about to break through to something new, to make that change. The key is to be able to sit it in long enough to build up the strength to push through. We are not taught to sit in anger or frustration and sadly we are often taught to suppress it. But if we can get really still with it and totally ACCEPT it, there is incredible magic in this anger. When channeled correctly it is literally the fuel it takes to drive our passion and move us from Wood to Fire, the energy of blossoming in our dreams.
So where are you feeling particularly frustrated? How could you get present with this feeling? And what would it take for you to allow that energy to fuel your dreams?