When I’m in the smallest room of a house, perched on a ladder and prying off some loose plaster, I have to remind myself why I’m doing all this. It takes a bit of a leap of the imagination, but in the grand scheme of things, I am working for the flourishing of all beings.

I believe that we are all essentially part of the great community of all beings. So by definition we thrive and flourish in communities. So to do my soul work effectively, I need to learn how to live and work in community with the beings with whom I share my life.

The community I’m talking about goes beyond the human world. We are in community with everything around us: animals and plants who share our environment, the soil that grows our food, the materials and tools that we work with. I want to learn how to work with and alongside these beings, rather than just do things to them. I want to be a co-creative part of the community of all beings.

But this doesn’t come easily to me. I tend to wade into my work with little regard for the subtle connections that bind me to the multi-dimensional world. I tend to get caught up in doing and forget that I’m never alone. That I am sharing time and space with others.

When I started investigating why it’s so hard for me to remember to pay attention to who is with me, I discovered a thick wall of defence that I have been carrying with me for a very long time. I recently managed to turn that wall into a living hedge of vines and flowers: a much softer and more pliable sort of boundary to live with.

And now that I am getting used to this softer edge, I am discovering something else: there is space here inside this hedged boundary. Inside the hedge, there is a place of peace and power.

When I go to the centre of my Sacred Circle, bounded by that living hedge, I find my balance with the Elements flowing to me from the four directions. I also feel the Life Force and Inspiration flowing from below and from above.

But there is more. In his book Druid Mysteries, Philip Carr Gomm, Chief of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, speaks of the Spirits of the Circle. They are the Spirits that bring us the many gifts that make us who we are.

There is the Spirit of Time, the power of the very moment we were born and of every moment that has brought us to the present. The Spirit of Place is the power of the place where we were born and every place that we have loved until we came here. The Spirit of Tribe is the power of our culture, of everything that gives meaning to what we encounter in our world.

The Spirit of the Ancestors holds the long thread of our inheritance that reaches us from the very first living beings. And finally the Spirit of the Journey is that unique spark of life that brings al those things together and creates our unique Self.

When I am grounded and centred, I can feel all this power flowing towards me. It is a wonderfully rich experience. In those moments, I can feel all of who I am. It is the power at the centre of the circle, and it is there for each of us to step into.

In my daily meditation practice, I’m going to that place. I feel myself settled there, calm and full of life. It is not a feeling I’m all that familiar with. But if I can manage to grow roots into that place, it will be a source of strength from where to make community with the beings I encounter every day. From my centre, I can weave myself into the community of all beings.