Three Truths and One Wish

image by Eric

1. Truth: Cultivating your curiosity is essential. What reminded me of this just this morning was a short video I saw in which author Elizabeth Gilbert talked about how we should follow our curiosity instead of our passion. She’s right, and yet it’s something that Buddhism was already saying, that freeing ourselves from fixed mind, letting go of our agenda, opening ourselves to whatever might arise with a sense of curiosity is a worthy pursuit, the way out of suffering. Pema Chödrön says,

There is a common misunderstanding among the human beings who have ever been born on earth that the best way to live is to try to avoid pain and just try to get comfortable. You see this even in insects and animals and birds. All of us are the same. A much more interesting, kind and joyful approach to life is to begin to develop our curiosity, not caring whether the object of our curiosity is bitter or sweet. To lead to a life that goes beyond pettiness and prejudice and always wanting to make sure that everything turns out on our own terms, to lead a more passionate, full, and delightful life than that, we must realize that we can endure a lot of pain and pleasure for the sake of finding out who we are and what this world is, how we tick and how our world ticks, how the whole thing just is.

2. Truth: Much of what passes for new wisdom seems to me like repackaged Buddhist philosophy. I’m running into this a lot lately. What I can’t figure out is if the people doing it just don’t realize they’ve discovered something that was already known, like Columbus “discovering” America, or if they really and truly just don’t know that much about Buddhism, or worse yet, they know and it’s all a ruse, a fabrication, a trick, an attempt to gain fame and fortune for themselves without doing the real work. Or better yet, there’s some big, universal truth that can’t be contained by any one philosophy or religion, and we keep coming back to it, approaching it from different angles, like that saying “many paths up the same mountain.”

3. Truth: There is some mysterious but obvious truth that stands on its own, outside and apart from any system of belief. I first encountered this when I took a World Religions class in college. Seeing how there were themes and stories and practices that crossed cultures and time blew my mind. For some people, that might have caused them to lose their religion, and while it did shift my attitude about the religion I’d been raised in, it actually solidified my belief in something bigger, something beyond our tiny little egos, our small little selves. I felt the echo of it rippling through every attempt humans had made at a fixed truth, all their assertions that they were part of the “one true religion” and everyone else had it wrong. I realized that God, however one might define that, was bigger than religion, and the means for knowing that energy, for connecting with that quality were personal and specific.

One wish: That we each find a way, a method, a practice, a path to connect with what is true. That we can find comfort, refuge in it. That our understanding of truth enables us to be wiser and more compassionate humans. That we remember, as Ram Dass says, “we are all just walking each other home.”

1. Truth: Four years ago today, I published my first blog post. Luckily WordPress reminded me of the anniversary otherwise I would have posted like it was any other day. So much has changed in four years, and I think if I were somehow able to tell who I was back then where I’d be now, she wouldn’t have believed it. I published an ebook, I’m a certified yoga instructor with a regular weekly class, I took Buddhist refuge vows so when someone asks if I’m a Buddhist my answer is “yes” instead of “well, I study and practice Buddhism, but I’m not actually a Buddhist,” I stopped dieting and overexercising, I got help for my dis-ordered eating, I am making peace with my body and food, I’m still at CSU but I’m now the Communications Coordinator for the English department, people I used to follow online are now my friends in real life, I’ve been published in print more than once, I’m getting paid for some of my blogging, I’ve done numerous guest posts, I’ve published 1370 posts here, I lost Dexter and got Ringo, and I’ve attended numerous workshops and retreats. The me that said in that first post, “It doesn’t seem to matter how bad I want it, how important it is to me, how long I’ve thought about it, how much I dream about it, or how deeply I long for it – it is hard to begin,” would be amazed at what we’ve accomplished, would be so happy she took the risk and started.

2. Truth: I worry that I’m boring. This was the truth that came to me as I was writing this morning, before I realized it was my blogiversary. I’m so white, so regular, so first world, so middle class, so routine, so same, so uninteresting. Evidence: I love fall. My favorite outfit is a black vneck tshirt, cargo pants, and Birkenstock sandals. I’d rather stay home than go out, especially at night and on the weekends. Clean pjs and clean sheets make me stupid happy. I love doing laundry. I’ve been married to the same person for 22 years, and I still like him and he’s just as boring as me. I talk about my dogs too much, have too many pictures of them sleeping and videos of them playing. I go to bed by 9 pm every night and get up at 5 am every morning. I drive a white four-door Honda Accord with a gray interior that is 18 years old. I’ve worked at the same place for 14 years. I have not one but two English degrees. Boring. But I also know that’s just a story, a lie I tell to keep myself safe, because if I’m boring, I’ll stay quiet, not risk anything.

3. Truth: I’m trying to focus on just one thing in my creative work. I had a coaching session with the amazing Caroline Leon of Life is Limitless yesterday, and this is just one of the things she helped me clarify, that trying to attempt ALL THE THINGS was holding me back, was overwhelming me. We figured out one thing I could focus on, something that I could complete that would give me a sense of movement without making me too crazed — I’m going to offer an in person half day workshop, a mix of yoga and mediation and writing, and run it sometime in October so that it’s completed by November 1st. I spent a lot of my writing session this morning planning it out. I’m hoping to cultivate more ease overall in my life (because it’s rare) without having to stop altogether, and this focusing on one thing at a time in my creative work seems like a brilliant idea.

One wish: That we could all slow down, find some ease and focus. That we could honor the celebrations big and small, see beyond the limiting stories we tell ourselves, and find ease in effort that nourishes us.