a practice
Yesterday I joined a conversation about establishing a practice… a habit… so that you might become whatever it is you want to be — a writer, a dancer, an entrepreneur, an acrobat, a filmmaker, a person who cuts flour into shortening to make pie crusts worthy of Mother Nature’s gifts — you get the idea.
Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. ~Howard Thurman
Long ago and far away I stumbled into a practice by accident… 100 Naked Words… write and publish a few paragraphs every day.
I didn’t do it because my friends were doing it.
I didn’t start typing away because I thought I’d get rich.
I didn’t want to write the next great novel… or to become famous.
I simply had all kinds of thoughts in my head that wanted to be heard.
And, here we are.
Still practicing.
I expect I’ll be practicing for the rest of my life.
Writing to you makes me come alive.
A couple of contradictory thoughts (pesky, but lovable muses?) kept at me while each of my friends shared their ideas. What practice will they adopt for the next 30 days so that they might become something new… a version 2.0 of their ‘self’?
First, I continue to bump into the spiritual idea that we are already whole and perfect as we are… in this moment.
Great… one of the muses countered… but isn’t life about continuing to grow? If you aren’t growing, you’re dying. Read Howard Thurman’s quote again. Choose a practice that makes you come alive. It might feel scary, but do it anyway. Pay attention to your feelings… they are your tour guide for life.
Second, one line from the Prayer of St. Francis was literally jumping up and down like a muse (most likely Thalia) in a bouncy castle during the call… For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.
Does anybody else see the contradiction here?
Should we forget our self? Or, build our self?
The conclusion the muses and I have arrived at is that we’re not so much trying to establish a self as we are trying to share our gifts with the world.
How do we know what those gifts are?
(Please see Howard Thurman’s quote.)
Feelings are our guide.
Does a practice… transcend our self for something bigger? (Muse of Many Questions)
My practice for the next 30 day is to recognize somebody else in their practice. To offer an observation that lifts them up and encourages them to keep going.
My friend Hazel Gale has created Betwixt.
I’m off to send her a note… to let her know I think it’s truly amazing.
It seems to me that you have been practicing for this “new” practice since our digital paths crossed. And grateful for that happening.
I’d like to comment on your quoting from The Prayer of St Francis. As one who attended AA meetings for years (not for material to write a book), one group offered morning meditation meetings that always including reading that prayer.
Segue to the “Big Book.” (The formal text of AA, also titled Alcoholics Anonymous) At one point the rhetorical question is, “Why do we do this? (get sober). To render ourselves of maximum service to God and our fellows.” No “me” in there.
Later, in the “Stories” segment of the book, the personal stories of the two founders of AA lead off. Dr Bob, a physician, states, “Nothing so much ensures sobriety as intensive work with other alcoholics.” Nope; not a sign of “me” once again.
A central theme in the AA approach to recovery is acquiring, and keeping, humility as one of our key character traits. “My ego wants me dead” was stated many times in many meetings. Hence the emphasis on humility and helping others.
Do you see any connection with your 30-day practice? Near the end of the prayer we read, “Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted…”.
Then consider this: After an electrocardiogram this morning, the technician kindly suggested I keep praying for wellness. She, a young African-American woman. I, a white haired white dude. It would seem prayer is not the exclusive commodity of any race, creed, or gender.
I thanked her for her reminder.
https://link.medium.com/HBEBD4Xoxhb