- Journal Entry #14 — Seeing It Otherwise
Closely observe your thoughts for a single hour. Longer, if you can.
Did the word certainty pop up? Probably not.
- But in observing your thoughts, how many are actually focused on creating more certainty in your day, your week, your life?
Of course, it’s pointless … seeking certainty.
We are constantly broken apart by experience. To reconcile our humanness means we are ever learning how to accept our suffering and to restore our Wholeness. ~ from Seven Thousand Ways to Listen, Mark Nepo
Glancing out at our garden, at flowers that are fading, at mums–golden, purple, orange–getting ready to bloom, it’s apparent that the wheel of time never pauses. And if time never pauses, why do our minds lead us to believe we can create meaningful (or lasting) certainty?
Autumn is already edging its way into our awareness. Still August, late summer, but each day, we sense the shifting colors and temperatures that are imminent. That much is certain. But only because the weather and the seasons are largely beyond our control (with the exception of the ongoing, strongly debated, impact of global warming).
- When it comes to just about everything else, certainty is often temporary, at best.
Life is temporary. Always uncertain. Always in motion. Always in the process of change. And, as Mark Nepo points out, “we are constantly broken apart by experience.”
Restoring “wholeness,” however, isn’t a matter of restoring certainty … and that’s where we seem to go astray.
- Wholeness, to me, is knowing my spiritual dimension is as real, as relevant, as the visible world around me. And when I can bring the two into alignment, harmony is inevitable. Internally, externally. But seeking certainty, trying to create the impossible, in other words, actually makes this kind of alignment that much more difficult to realize. The need for certainty also causes us to focus on all the wrong things. It causes us to overlook the present moment in search of a certain kind of future. And it stands in the way of true creativity. The more we can let go of expectations of certainty, the more freedom we feel to explore the depths of our being. To discover our true spiritual nature, as Buddha put it. Going beyond the kind of certainty we “think” is important, I can sense the infinite nature of the universe. ~dh
Thanks for stopping by — see you in a couple of weeks!
Seeing It Otherwise is an online spiritual journal for 2013.
We are exploring perceptions, assumptions, and reactions. It’s a great opportunity to journal with us or meditate on the ideas and questions presented. Blog posts serve as brief journal entries every other Friday morning.
I hope you are enjoying this close-up of life and spirituality. Thanks for being here!
Next journal post: August 30th.
- Comments are welcome when open, but I encourage inner dialogue as well … or more importantly. Thanks, have a great week!
