Excerpt from Desert Notes by Barry Lopez:
“Explanations will occur to you, seeming to clarify; but they can be a kind of trick. You will think you have hold of the idea when you only have hold of its clothing.
Feel how still it is. You can become impatient here, willing to accept any explanation in order to move on. This appears to be nothing at all, but it is a wall between you and what you are after. Be sure you are not tricked into thinking there is nothing to fear. Moving on is not important. You must wait. You must take things down to the core.”
Growth is the currency of the yogi these days.
Not just internal growth but also outward expressions of growth such as projects and skills. I hear from students, friends, and even from my own thoughts, a regular desperation at wanting something to manifest immediately, and the struggle of not seeing it come to fruition.
Think of your life as a gardening experiment. In order to succeed at gardening, you must do more than plant and water.
You must understand the seasons. There is a time to plant and harvest but there is also much waiting and no guarantee of useable crops. The will of circumstance does have a way of undermining your plans. Soil matters as does the amount of sun your patch of land gets. You have to work with what you’ve got.
If you are tired, my advice is to stop pushing and listen. Instagram and your great creations can wait. Not moving on or moving forward but settling in….. In and down towards your roots is the appropriate action.
Naturalness is the opposite of cleverness according to Taoist teachings. You don’t need to “hack” your life so much as see it and engage with it more clearly.
Learn the qualities and rhythms of our seasons and obey the natural flow and you will struggle less in general. Fall and Winter are more Yin (simplify and rest) where Spring, Summer and Late Summer are more Yang (Play and produce).
See your life also in seasons. Are you in an incubation period? What is the biggest pull of your energy from day to day? Example: If you have children under the age of 5, you are in survival mode and fighting against that will only exhaust you further and leave you feeling disappointed in yourself.
If you can identify your season, you can stop fighting yourself and instead support what needs to be supported.
Seasonality, patience, curiosity, and appropriate action yield the best results.
Happy gardening everyone!
Love,
KJ