Belong Nowhere and Everywhere
The rain falls, gently and deliberately, and the ground soaks it up. It arrives many weeks after the parched environs sought whatever drops of moisture could be found and extracted from greater depths...
The atmosphere is heavy with the political impasse of the moment. Most government employees are home, waiting out the outcome of this shutdown, unwilling pawns in a game - dare I say it? - of thrones...
I feel the heaviness also - the gloom of an impending doom I cannot accept or even begin to visualize...
For weeks I have wanted to write and speak, but a dying computer made it more difficult, and so instead, I journeyed inward...
I wish I could say that I have profound insights and answers to share, but I have only lessons received that may be helpful to others...
I am saddened to see so many displaced and hurting because of the intransigence and the inability of others to compromise, which in turn holds a nation hostage and so many souls captive. I feel powerless in the face of all of this, and all I can do is pray and repeat Lovingkindness meditations endlessly, even for those I find abhorrent. I cannot do otherwise...
In this overwhelming sense of displacement, I consider that one of the driving forces in my life has been to belong - somewhere and to someone...
Having moved many times in my life - the continuity of sowing roots in one place and watching them bear fruit - has always seemed like the perfect thing. I have been lucky to have spent a decade or more in some places...
Still, some great longing within has never quite been sated...
When I visited the river earlier this week, right before the rains came, I simply heard within the words, "Belong not anywhere - so that you can be belong everywhere."
I took this to mean, In a much broader sense, that I should not be attached to a particular place, or set of circumstances, or most especially to certain relationships - so that I could be open and available to greater experiences, opportunities and friendships.
Does that make sense?
This morning I read a quote or "meme" on Facebook by Don Miguel Ruiz, and it seemed to me one of the hardest lessons to embody:
Ah! Easier said than done - but so true! But as a friend noted, she has experienced tremendous freedom personally by engaging in this practice.
When we belong everywhere, we can be in solidarity with others. We can be more compassionate. We can empathize. We can feel what others feel. But in order to do this, as fully as we are capable - we must let go of our attachments to the few - or to the one...
This is the lesson I would love to convey to members in Congress on both sides of the aisle:
Belong not here - so that you can belong there.
Belong not to one - so that you can belong to many.
Be not beholden to your views and your desires - so that you may embrace all views and all desires.
Be present. And realize compromise is not a sign of weakness, but of strength.
Belong not in one place - so that you can belong in all places, and all states, and all cities - and be at home everywhere on this earth!
The atmosphere is heavy with the political impasse of the moment. Most government employees are home, waiting out the outcome of this shutdown, unwilling pawns in a game - dare I say it? - of thrones...
I feel the heaviness also - the gloom of an impending doom I cannot accept or even begin to visualize...
For weeks I have wanted to write and speak, but a dying computer made it more difficult, and so instead, I journeyed inward...
I wish I could say that I have profound insights and answers to share, but I have only lessons received that may be helpful to others...
I am saddened to see so many displaced and hurting because of the intransigence and the inability of others to compromise, which in turn holds a nation hostage and so many souls captive. I feel powerless in the face of all of this, and all I can do is pray and repeat Lovingkindness meditations endlessly, even for those I find abhorrent. I cannot do otherwise...
In this overwhelming sense of displacement, I consider that one of the driving forces in my life has been to belong - somewhere and to someone...
Having moved many times in my life - the continuity of sowing roots in one place and watching them bear fruit - has always seemed like the perfect thing. I have been lucky to have spent a decade or more in some places...
Still, some great longing within has never quite been sated...
When I visited the river earlier this week, right before the rains came, I simply heard within the words, "Belong not anywhere - so that you can be belong everywhere."
I took this to mean, In a much broader sense, that I should not be attached to a particular place, or set of circumstances, or most especially to certain relationships - so that I could be open and available to greater experiences, opportunities and friendships.
Does that make sense?
This morning I read a quote or "meme" on Facebook by Don Miguel Ruiz, and it seemed to me one of the hardest lessons to embody:
"There is a huge amount of freedom
that comes to you
when you take nothing
personally."
When we belong everywhere, we can be in solidarity with others. We can be more compassionate. We can empathize. We can feel what others feel. But in order to do this, as fully as we are capable - we must let go of our attachments to the few - or to the one...
This is the lesson I would love to convey to members in Congress on both sides of the aisle:
Belong not here - so that you can belong there.
Belong not to one - so that you can belong to many.
Be not beholden to your views and your desires - so that you may embrace all views and all desires.
Be present. And realize compromise is not a sign of weakness, but of strength.
Belong not in one place - so that you can belong in all places, and all states, and all cities - and be at home everywhere on this earth!
Comments
Blessings,
Olga