Reflections on life, truth, faith, love, introspection, and transformation.
Dancing with perfection
I have often caught myself living in future scenarios that are perfect, where everything has finally clicked into place.
I have often resisted being fully present to the perfection of having all I need and more in the present moment.
This dance with perfection tends to leave me hopeful and exhausted.
How are you dancing with perfection? Who is the lead?
Fear of fulfillment
I resist peace in my life sometimes because I'm afraid I'll lose out on having any fun. What will I do with my indulgences if I am already fulfilled?
Where are you afraid of stepping into who you can truly be? What seems to be and what is actually at stake?
Why; who, what, where, when, how?
Avoiding the “why” has helped me to get into the details of my existence. Asking why can help me to explore the depth of what is at hand, but sticking to the who, what, where, when, and how helps me to understand the facts around me.
When do you ask why? When do you choose inquiry without asking why?
Fear lives in the anticipation
I have a strategy that has worked well for years. It goes something like this.
Not a bad approach, right? Yet today I am seeing this through the lense of fear in anticipation. This is a strategy driven by fearing what could go wrong. Each step constantly pushes my awareness out of the present moment and into an unknown and dangerous set of possible future failures.
How could you work toward a goal without summoning the fear that lives within anticipation?
Sunshine on my face
Bright light warms my skin Perfectly balanced to bring heat without harm Like a hug from a giant who knows not to squeeze too hard I feel alive Knowing this is the same sun that warmed the tomato plant that made it's way into my breakfast Knowing this is the same sun that warmed the faces of my ancestors and will warm the faces of my children Knowing this is the same sun that warms the faces of those I've never met as well as those who have sought to harm me in the past I give thanks
Spiral reflection of relationship
Each new relationship in my life is a spiral reflection of past and current relationships. At the center of it all is my own self relationship, which I project into the world through my boundaries, standards, and terms.
The trick is not just to learn through relationships, but to do so in a way that changes the spiral. I think of it directionally.
If I go into a relationship feeling undeserving of this other person, which reminds me of similar past experiences that reinforce a story of self where I am less than worthy, then that spiral reflection will be pulling the relationship towards my expectation of undeserving.
If I go into a relationship feeling bountiful and clear, which reminds me of past healthy interactions that feed a story of self where I am loving and growing through life, then that spiral reflection will pull the relationship upwards toward my aspirational state of being.
How are you building the spiral reflections within your relationships?
Time binding and time transcendence
The concept of time binding is fascinating. Unique to humans, this ability allows us to connect various events and experiences into stories, lessons, and even identities.
Many have argued that this time binding ability is what makes us humans different from all other animals. I have long found these arguments convincing.
However, this morning it feels that my humanity is much more rooted in my ability to transcend time than to bind it. When I am fully present I feel more human than ever, which is a timeless and unbound state.
What makes you human? Can you bind and transcend time?
Order and purpose
Life has a certain order to it. In the morning I see a sunrise. In the evening I see a sunset. Sometimes the clouds get in the way of my view, and their rain brings water to the earth.
For this order to exist, each interconnected aspect serves some purpose. Sunlight brings energy. Nature provides sustenance. Etc. Etc.
As a human, I can find, make, and describe meaning, order, and purpose in myriad ways. The confusion of so many descriptions and stories has long clouded my awareness from seeing this simple 2 part truth:
Once you accept that you have an purpose beyond your understanding, would you be willing to spend a lifetime embodying and seeking that which you were made to be?
I'm down. Care to join me?
Fear and adversity
Without fear, I can not overcome fear.
Without sadness, I can not grieve loss.
Without shame, I can not set my own boundaries with full awareness.
Without guilt, I can not learn from my mistakes.
Without anger, I can not tell when I am at risk and when I am at peace.
The key is to fully feel and move into and through the feelings. Not to get stuck in them, but to invite and honor them so that they might transform from enemy to teacher.
Where in your life can you learn and grow through your feelings?
Austrian novelist, playwright, and poet Thomas Bernhard (February 9, 1931–February 12, 1989) once wrote,
“If we observe very carefully someone who is walking, we also know how he thinks. If we observe very carefully someone who is thinking, we know how he walks. If we observe most minutely someone walking over a fairly long period of time, we gradually come to know his way of thinking, the structure of his thought, just as we, if we observe someone over a fairly long period of time as to the way he thinks, we will gradually come to know how he walks… There is nothing more revealing than to see a thinking person walking, just as there is nothing more revealing than to see a walking person thinking… Walking and thinking are in a perpetual relationship that is based on trust.”
How do you walk? How do you think? Any opportunities for growth in either?