Mike Rowe, the Dirty Jobs guy, addresses the issue of following your passion in a wide-ranging talk. Money quote: "Follow your passion? Worst advice I ever got." (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-udsIV4Hmc )
I'm not sure that Mr. Rowe is making the correct conclusion about success and passion. Sounds like the passion of the pig farmer who lives in Vegas making a great living feeding his pigs the casino food waste is perhaps making a comfortable living, and he found a clever way to do it (perhaps finding the clever way to best the system is his passion.)
I think defining passion is a tricky business. A passion doesn't have to be playing the violin. Some peoples' passion is simply to be useful--and beyond that they may or may not have creative impulses. When we talk about helping our children to follow their passion, we are not suggesting they become marginal to society and seek out the obscure, rather that they grow into their own skin, that they own themselves, that they are able to define with clarity what their place in the world is.
There are leaders and there are followers, there are pacifists and fighters, there are those who make music and those who enjoy others making music. It takes all to make a world, and if we make that world through a higher consciousness the outcome should be not a happy joy fest, but a richer fuller existence for all.
And finally, this is a life long process. Passions are not all formed by birth; as we grow and change, our passions may grow and change. As parents it is our job to keep holding space for our children to explore that with consciousness. As humans it is our responsibility to hold space for ourselves and everyone else in the same way, suspending judgment and being fully present now.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Taking a bigger perspective
There is a great gentleness which comes into play when we connect with the present moment, a sense of being nurtured. What is it to feel nurtured? The feeling of being held with unconditional love without judgement. When we step into the center of the circle of the present moment through meditation, yoga, or even simple mindfulness that circle holds us in a nurturing embrace. That is why when we take time to practice or be mindful we feel so much clearer and so much more able to love ourselves and the world. Then we are in a position to meet each challenge as a teaching moment.
Being mindful towards each moment transforms our experiences from a series of events (to be qualified and sorted into good, bad, memorable, difficult) into a flowing of life. Then it is as if we stand in the middle of a stream which flows around us. We still notice how events make us feel. In this we recognize our humanity -- our vulnerability helps our compassion grow and being in a place of allowing, keeps us grounded in the stream.
Thus our task is to be in the stream and stay alive to its movements, not to let our eyes glaze over. And when we glaze over, and for a span of time we go to sleep, then we must be aware enough to wake ourselves up. Or else the universe will do it for us with a challenge or "accident". We must keep pinching ourselves to stay awake to be truly alive.
Being mindful towards each moment transforms our experiences from a series of events (to be qualified and sorted into good, bad, memorable, difficult) into a flowing of life. Then it is as if we stand in the middle of a stream which flows around us. We still notice how events make us feel. In this we recognize our humanity -- our vulnerability helps our compassion grow and being in a place of allowing, keeps us grounded in the stream.
Thus our task is to be in the stream and stay alive to its movements, not to let our eyes glaze over. And when we glaze over, and for a span of time we go to sleep, then we must be aware enough to wake ourselves up. Or else the universe will do it for us with a challenge or "accident". We must keep pinching ourselves to stay awake to be truly alive.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Joy
Many "new age" gurus talk about finding joy, or bliss in each moment. But they also speak of being truly aware of all of our emotions. I used to wonder how one can be in bliss in a moment of anger or sorrow because anger and sorrow are as much human emotions as joy.
What I begin to understand is that each of us can find the joy in each moment. But joy doesn't necessarily mean happiness, as in a warm fuzzy feeling, but rather a sense of wonder and being alive for all that is right now even in a moment of sadness or anger--to be able to notice all of it. And within that dwells the wonder that, "I am here to witness this" whatever "this" may be. That is joy.
What I begin to understand is that each of us can find the joy in each moment. But joy doesn't necessarily mean happiness, as in a warm fuzzy feeling, but rather a sense of wonder and being alive for all that is right now even in a moment of sadness or anger--to be able to notice all of it. And within that dwells the wonder that, "I am here to witness this" whatever "this" may be. That is joy.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
The Wisdom of No Escape
It seems that all meditation techniques have the same basis which is to learn to be honest and warm-hearted towards ourselves in order to truly know ourselves in mind, body, emotions, and spirit. And no one can know these truths but ourselves. Pema Chodron calls this nontheistic. Nothing to do with belief in God, but rather that only only I can know myself, only you can know yourself. No one but you can discern what to accept and what to reject.
So there is a requirement of each of us to take this pursuit on relentlessly whether in meditation or real life. We pay attention to our breath, what is in our head, come back to the present moment, notice we are thinking or judging by naming the action, back to the breath, or the noticing of thoughts, back to the present moment, and so on. And in this process continue to be as warm and gentle and honest, eventually learning who we truly are and what it means "to let go of holding on and holding back" (Pema Chodron). Thus, ultimately, strong feelings or reactions to events don't clutch and hold us, rather we exist, experience, and move on.
So there is a requirement of each of us to take this pursuit on relentlessly whether in meditation or real life. We pay attention to our breath, what is in our head, come back to the present moment, notice we are thinking or judging by naming the action, back to the breath, or the noticing of thoughts, back to the present moment, and so on. And in this process continue to be as warm and gentle and honest, eventually learning who we truly are and what it means "to let go of holding on and holding back" (Pema Chodron). Thus, ultimately, strong feelings or reactions to events don't clutch and hold us, rather we exist, experience, and move on.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Compassion
"The Charter for Compassion is a collaborative effort to build a peaceful and harmonious global community. Bringing together the voices of people from all religions, the Charter seeks to remind the world that while all faiths are not the same, they all share the core principle of compassion and the Golden Rule."
If we want to write such a thing let's define compassion: "Compassion is an understanding of the emotional state of another or oneself. Not to be confused with empathy, compassion is often combined with a desire to alleviate or reduce the suffering of another or to show special kindness to those who suffer." Compassion is really about showing up. It is the ability to hold space for ourselves and others as we live what it is to be human.
In considering a Charter for Compassion, a global map as it were for guiding us to be compassionate, I feel we must all strive to exist in this state of being present, and constant vigilance of our motivations for doing, caring, believing. Compassionate behavior can slip into rescuing or condescension, or be driven by guilt, shame, or fear. That would be ultimately counter productive. So in order to breed true compassion we must begin to work our way out from under many cultural constraints which have been imposed over centuries to control human behavior. Step number one: learn to show up in the present moment for each moment. It might only be for a few seconds at first almost like surfacing for air while swimming. But with practice soon we might begin to float with ease.
If we want to write such a thing let's define compassion: "Compassion is an understanding of the emotional state of another or oneself. Not to be confused with empathy, compassion is often combined with a desire to alleviate or reduce the suffering of another or to show special kindness to those who suffer." Compassion is really about showing up. It is the ability to hold space for ourselves and others as we live what it is to be human.
In considering a Charter for Compassion, a global map as it were for guiding us to be compassionate, I feel we must all strive to exist in this state of being present, and constant vigilance of our motivations for doing, caring, believing. Compassionate behavior can slip into rescuing or condescension, or be driven by guilt, shame, or fear. That would be ultimately counter productive. So in order to breed true compassion we must begin to work our way out from under many cultural constraints which have been imposed over centuries to control human behavior. Step number one: learn to show up in the present moment for each moment. It might only be for a few seconds at first almost like surfacing for air while swimming. But with practice soon we might begin to float with ease.
Interior Wanderings
Beginning a reading of Pema Chodron's The Wisdom of No Escape and the Path of Loving Kindness.
What is the path of loving kindness? It is loving kindness toward ourselves which eventually extends to others as we understand that evolving of spirit does not mean we are less than now and we need to become other/better. It means we delve in with curiosity and playfulness to discover who we really are inside...to become fully awake in all we do. We move with intention knowing that all is enough right now. Not that I won't change or evolve from this place, but that place is qualitatively neither better nor worse, just different based on my experiences and how I am changed each day by them.
As humans we tend towards judgment. That is not a bad thing, but it is important to find the place from which we can stand as third party and notice that we are judging and see what that is really all about-who is doing the judging? How does it serve my highest good? And what is underneath that judgment?
So what I'm ruminating on is a series of questions: "How do I know myself? How much of what I know of myself is based on what I imagine others think of me? How much do I project that someday I will be all that I can be rather than seeing I am all that now."
What is the path of loving kindness? It is loving kindness toward ourselves which eventually extends to others as we understand that evolving of spirit does not mean we are less than now and we need to become other/better. It means we delve in with curiosity and playfulness to discover who we really are inside...to become fully awake in all we do. We move with intention knowing that all is enough right now. Not that I won't change or evolve from this place, but that place is qualitatively neither better nor worse, just different based on my experiences and how I am changed each day by them.
As humans we tend towards judgment. That is not a bad thing, but it is important to find the place from which we can stand as third party and notice that we are judging and see what that is really all about-who is doing the judging? How does it serve my highest good? And what is underneath that judgment?
So what I'm ruminating on is a series of questions: "How do I know myself? How much of what I know of myself is based on what I imagine others think of me? How much do I project that someday I will be all that I can be rather than seeing I am all that now."
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