yourintrinsicself

Habits and practices

Habits are patterns that we condition ourselves into following. They are largely unconscious and automated.

Practices are patterns that we consciously choose each time. They require commitment and discipline, because only conscious decision can keep them alive.

Where are you building habits? Where are you cultivating practices?

Love in a word

Love is a beautiful word, but sometimes I wish it were more specific. Do I really love both my shoes and my daughter with the same verb? Seems like different words for each object of affection would be more suitable. But perhaps the single word helps us all to see the love in ways large and small.

Who or what do you love?

Infant Reminders

I am fortunate enough to have an infant child to call my own. She teaches me remarkable lessons about life and gratitude.

A few days ago I took her swimming in a pool for the first time. The next time we were near that same pool she suddenly said, “SWM!” Her vowel seemed to be missing, but the fact that she remembered both the word and the location was nothing short of stunning.

I walk around every day aware of where I am and using words to label the world around me. But only when my little one did that same thing did I realize how remarkable that skill is.

What simple thing could a child remind you to see as remarkable in your life?

Breathing in the sunlight

Generally I breathe air with my lungs. Breathing in I am aware that I am alive in an environment that provides with me with the oxygen I need to live.

This morning it occurred to me that my skin and eyes, in a sense, “breathe” sunlight. It's not respiration in the medical sense, but my body takes in the warmth and light of the sun in order to sustain life.

What do you think of the invitation to breathe sunlight?

Emotional sobriety

For most of my life emotions were intimating to me. Years ago I learned the term “emotional sobriety”, which resonated with my desire to manage my emotions. I distorted the meaning to justify my avoidance of deep emotional work. I started running a story that if I avoid the “intoxicant” of emotions then I stay sober.

But now I am discovering that my emotions are not designed to be managed. They are made to be listened to and integrated into my being.

My strategy for emotional safety used to be to avoid emotions, and now it has shifted to seeking to embrace them. It is a challenge and an ongoing practice, especially for more intense emotions associated with pain and difficulty.

I am seeking to experience my full truth and know I am safe in the present moment.

What would it mean for you to be emotionally sober?

Can such sobriety include the power of emotions themselves?

Stressful Job... Peaceful Life?

Sometimes my day job can be stressful. I bet yours can be as well.

My meditation practice brings peace into my life. I hope yours does, too.

Lately the centering practice of stepping back feels like an escape from the stress in my life. It has been difficult to integrate my mindfulness and spiritual practices into my work domain. I realize now that this challenge is also an opportunity for me to grow through what I have currently in my life.

I hope and pray that a month from today I might have more peace at work and less of a feeling of escape when I meditate. Care to join me with this intention?

How do you integrate the peace of meditation with the stress of work in your life?

God of your understanding

“I believe in God.”

That is the language I choose to attempt to describe my faith in a single phrase. It doesn't suit everyone. Some are bothered by it because it is too religious. Others are bothered because it is not religious enough.

For me, the God of my understanding is beyond my understanding. Not an old man in the clouds, but inclusive of the clouds and all of creation.

I used to struggle with terms like theist, atheist, and agnostic; trying to find a label to describe my messy and uncertain faith journey.

The language isn't perfect, but after many years I can feel my faith when I say “I believe in God” as my own truth.

What imprecise language might you use to describe the God of your own understanding?

Faith

Faith can carry me from fear to possibility Faith can change a can not into a can Faith can invite me to find a deeper part of me Faith can transform me from boy to man

Faith can illumine a distant reality Faith can provide me with fuel to persist Faith can help me see what's right in front of me Faith can let go of the buckets and lists

Faith can elevate me above myself Faith can get me out of my head Faith can connect me with everyone else Faith can bring peace to the dead

What do you have faith in?

Breathing together

When I am in an elevator, I am breathing the same air as the strangers around me. We breathe together, as air passes out of my lungs and into theirs.

I don't know the equation of how much air is recycled between any given number of people in a given space. But I know we are all breathing together.

How often do you realize you're sharing your breath with others?

Individualism, Collectivism, and Balance

I have found that my individualism at best is a healthy source of worthiness and at worst is a source of unhealthy ego pride.

I have also found that the collective dynamics of society at best offer a place to belong and be loved, and at worst offer a source of confinement and shame.

What is your balance between pride and shame? Is such a balance an ideal, or a lived experience?