The Space Between (Part 3)

The Space Between (Part 3)

There are times that no matter how aware of our human connectedness we may be no one else can go with us. There are certain places we must endure perfectly alone. Mortality shakes our ultimate state of aloneness into sharp reality.

Moments of understanding this can lead to great fear. It is our ultimate end journey which no one else can share. No one else can go there with us. No one can ease the immeasurable weight of that transition into another world.

Some try to console themselves with fairy tale myths of the afterlife. Others do the same insisting life simply stops. Neither gets at the beautiful mystery and reality of our end, the perfect aloneness in reconciling our existence with itself.

What’s the exchange? How does the transition really go? One world at a time. And all we have are these delicate, utterly simple moments bearing the full weight of being. And in that perfectly alone moment, you guessed it, we are not alone.

For death has lost its sting. It is not an end in itself. It is a transition. It is a step in our necessary evolution to the next phase of human experience. It is our only way into the existence we can only now dream of and long for. It is real.

The Space Between (Part 2)

The Space Between (Part 2)

So we can re-frame our individual, personal suffering as another form of camaraderie between us. And yet it is only one of many. Even in the midst of our chaos we find profound moments of joy and acceptance at whatever the world may bring.

As we endure hardships we press into some magical space. Exhausted, broken, weary - perfect conditions for a magic spell (which is really just life bringing around a small taste of the harvest for which we long). We have a moment.

And in those moments time does stop.

The Space Between (Part 1)

The Space Between (Part 1)

So clearly humans don’t always get it right. Most of us could come up with a list of the offenses perpetrated against us fairly quick. We know those things have left emotional scars that still bear on who we are. Who are we?

Are we the sum total of those things done to us, especially at young ages? Are we able to wipe free the slate of our childhoods? Can we possibly erase the damage left by our parents? Or is that all part of making us who we actually are?

Are the things that happened to us essential to us?

To Love What You Do (Part 7)

To Love What You Do (Part 7)

“Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.” Not quite. Freedom is the ability to choose. It’s having a choice. Being aware of that choice. Beholding that choice. Respecting that choice. That’s freedom, both duty and delight. Too often we have let addicts define freedom. Really. Normally those who talk about and flaunt their freedom have the least. The addict at first, of course, is escaping all the trappings of everyday life in favor of much more heightened existence.

To Love What You Do (Part 6)

To Love What You Do (Part 6)

Location, community, or a job you love. There are 3 things to choose from after college. Live in a cool location? Be surrounded by people you know and love? Or go for a job that is something you are passionate about? That is the choice.

To Love What You Do (Part 5)

To Love What You Do (Part 5)

We have discovered that what you believe infinitely changes your reality. If you believe something is possible, it is. Our accuser lives, as we have also said, to convince us not to believe - to shut us in on ourselves. To render us powerless.

To Love What You Do (Part 4)

To Love What You Do (Part 4)

This deception of powerlessness is pervasive and consequential. It keeps people locked inside themselves. The rubber band of self-loathing pulls us back over and over again from taking the next right step toward our vision of life.

There is a healthy sort of self-loathing that keeps one from taking life too seriously. It maintains one’s humility. But it is ultimately less like loathing and more like honest assessment of our limitations. Loathing may start with this honesty.