#7 OF 52 GIRLS
Posted on September 17, 2014 Leave a Comment
This week’s collaboration of art and haiku.
Is Something Missing in Your Life?
Posted on September 16, 2014 2 Comments
Sometimes we feel something is missing in our lives.
The Problem
How many of us have turned to religion to fill that void and for a while it was meaningful. Or even now, we continue to go to church, or the mosque, or the temple. But, it has just become another routine in our lives, like going to work. The joy is gone, the purpose, the meaning. Or for some of us, we still have the joy but not the community.
Even those of us who are sincere practitioners of a religious or spiritual tradition often look at this world with dismay. Violence, poverty, greed, injustice, bigotry, racism, sexism, wars continue at an accelerating rate. But we get caught up in the daily demands of life to care for ourselves and our families. And so many of us, after 40 or more hours of work, rush to our homes, turn on the TV or stereo, eat, drink, or smoke to forget the problems of this world. Yet all the while, this nagging continues.
A Solution
We need to hear new stories.
Every religion on earth is based on story. Most of today’s religions center on stories of the achievements of outstanding men. In earlier times, religions were built around the spiritual accomplishments of women. But, today’s religions and their stories create a dichotomy, separation. The creator is above the created, the spiritual is better than the material, the sacred does not tolerate the profane, the relative truth is less than the absolute truth. How can we know wholeness with all of this separation?
Reclaim the Sacred
Each of us have our own stories. Too many of us have created stories to protect us from acknowledging the void in our lives. But, we can always create new stories. We can find stories in our families, our cultures, even in our religions that will guide, inspire and uplift us.
Although the word sacred stems from a Latin word associated with worshipping deities it also has the definition of highly valued and important.
Holding on to that definition, we can embark on the journey to reclaim the sacred for our selves, our families, and our world. Through eyes that see the sacred in all that lives and in this precious earth, we will find what has been missing in our lives.
Loss Can Lead to Happiness
Posted on September 9, 2014 14 Comments
Loss opens vistas/Attachment limits new movement/Freedom is empty
The word loss sends shivers down our spines. We are you afraid of losing our jobs, our spouse, our health, our good looks, our memory, our home, our children. And most of us harbor the unspoken fear of the ultimate loss – death?
How can loss lead to happiness?
Recognize when fear of loss controls our lives.
How many of us move through life motivated by Fear?
We enter unsatisfying relationships because we fear being alone.
We go to college because we fear disappointing our parents.
We take jobs we hate because we fear going into debt.
We wear the latest fashions because we fear being ridiculed.
At the base of all of these fears is one overriding fear, the fear of loss.
We fear the loss of a relationship.
We fear the loss of our parent’s approval.
We fear the loss of financial comfort.
We fear the loss of social approval.
We fear loss because of attachment.
We are attached to our things.
We are attached to status.
We are attached to social norms.
We are attached to satisfying others’ expectations.
We grow up being taught that these values of attachment are important. Seldom are we encouraged to take a critical look or to consider what is really of value in life. Maybe, if we go to a church, or temple, or mosque, we may learn that material accumulation and fitting into society are not the goals of life. We may learn that values such as compassion, kindness, generosity, courage, and even sacrifice, should be the guiding values for living a life of meaning and purpose.
Eventually, life will hit each of us with unwanted experiences. We can struggle against them, curse them, or we can learn to let go.
We can die before we die.
So we lose the job, or the spouse, or the car, or our house. When we can die, release our attachment to that which we have lost, without anger, self-pity or recriminations, we can discover a new freedom. The freedom of equanimity.
Equanimity – evenness of temper under stress (Encarta World English Dictionary, 1999)
With equanimity we take a deep breath, calm our rising emotions, and step back to take a full, objective look at our situation. We find the more we can relax, the more we can release attachment to our emotions and negative outlook, the more we use the power of equanimity we are able to take a new look at life.
We acknowledge we didn’t like that job anyway and begin to visualize, articulate, to find fulfilling work.
We admit we knew the relationship was wrong and patiently seek the person who gives our life meaning.
When we approach life with equanimity, we begin to take time to see life anew, with eyes of wonder. We take time to bathe in the symphonic silence of a breathtaking sunset. We marvel at a rare, huge golden moon. We melt in the loving gaze of a child. We are grateful for being alive in this very moment now we know how our loss leads to happiness.
Visit SACRED to receive a gift of wonder.
Skywalker Storyteller Works 