Welcome! I’d like to share with you some thoughts about retirement—mine, that is (remember my self-absorbed nature?). As you may recall, about a month ago I emailed you with the announcement that I will be retiring as of the end of this year. Here I’d like to invite you into the true spirit of that ‘happening.’
I’ve long felt that (and this statement makes sense only when read through your more ‘mystical’ eyes) I pretty much appeared here on earth out of nothing, have been here to lovingly serve our collective human family and very special persons in particular (like you, for example), and will someday disappear back into nothing. Strange as that perspective may sound, it has felt quite ‘true’ to me (as much as any assertion can be true, mind you).
In that spirit, I now feel called to take my first big step into that ‘nothing’—by retiring from this long life of loving service to you. Frankly, every aspect of this retirement scenario summons only feelings of joy and celebration from my depths—celebration of my being here to support all of you, celebration of you and every person whom I have had the privilege of touching and being touched by, celebration of this moment, this step called retirement.
Yes, celebration. Really! While I deeply understand any grieving or sadness that some of you have so lovingly expressed at my upcoming departure (and thank you for sharing your heart with me about your feelings), I must admit that I only feel the deepest joy and gratitude about it all—for you, your beauty, your amazing nature, your sweetness, your specialness, your wonder. And I feel only the purest sense of personal awe—awe over the fact that I have been so privileged to be in your presence, to experience the divine in the human form that is you, to be touched by your vast heart, deep soul and mighty presence. And finally, and perhaps in last place, I feel the most profound sense of personal privilege—to have been brought here to walk in your shoes as your friend, to serve you at the deepest levels of your needs, to translate the gifts and grace of infinity into your finite nature, and to bless you from the vastness of my own spiritual nature.
So, I invite you to share this joy, this awe, this celebration with me over the coming months. Why? Because through the remaining time of my tangible service, we are already making that transition. I am already fading slowly into that nothing (while still being fully and powerfully here, note), and I am already transitioning into my new role of being that same blesser, empowerer, healer and awakener that I have been—but now from that space of increasing ‘nothing’.
And it’s all leading to this: Once I have withdrawn from my current role of service (and am retired), my spirit will continue serving you, loving you, supporting you and empowering you—but no longer with human words, face-to-face meetings, inspiring teachings or rituals of healing …
… but rather from the deepest core of your humanness, from the wisdom-filled essence of your soul, from the love-filled center of your heart, from the wildest imagination of your right-brain, from the very epicenter of your inner truth. And my spirit (which is the real me anyway) will do so invisibly, quietly, soulfully, spiritually, and in ways that are just as powerful and expanding as when I was serving you humanly.
Yes, I’m inviting you to make this transition with me, starting now. It’ll be such fun!
Thank you!
With great love and devotion ~ Bill Bauman
