Love this post today Gail! Thank you so much. I have a Robin of my own. Still no babies yet. I get to peek in after my morning run. She is usually sitting in the nest so diligently. It's such a miracle and makes me smile each morning. Thank you.
Was it Twain who said that "golf was a way to spoil a nice walk in the woods? I have my own story related to quitting golf. I won't tell the whole story here except to "tee" up some interest. I scored 68 in my last round on a Championship course and tees. On the front 9 I scored 32 which was one shot shy of the course record. I didn't score any better on the back nine because my hands were shaking so much. At the time I was an 11 Handicap which for the uninitiated means my normal score on this particular course was 83. It was an out-of-body experience. I have never played a round or touched a club since then. Thanks for the reminder.
Poetry aside. The story is best told, embellished as I might with a glass of wine late in the day.
Absent the opportunity to sit with you here is my truth. Every swing gave me a glimpse of my potential. It scared me so much that I shrunk back and away. Marianne Williamson's admonishment about what we fear most is my lived experience. In those moments I could visualize the shape of the shot and the physical body of Bruce would create from that image. There was no "me" in those moments. Or more accurately the "real me" was unimpaired by thought or illusion of self. The gift to me was the experience. It was not about golf, was it?
Thank you for sharing. The story I was writing in my mind is similar to what you shared… with some nuance. (Was your experience with your 1st podcast similar?)
Yesterday I had the opportunity to record a conversation with my friend Ed Brenegar. One question led me to reflect on my gratitude for not having external success with my writing. (Internal growth/success is astronomical!)
A lack of external attention has freed me from the expectations of others… it’s freed me of expectations for myself. I am able to live in presence and creativity. I can shift from personal essay to poetry, or fiction. I can toss in visual art creation. I can create online events. I can go solo or collaborate.
Ah! Crap. You're inviting me actually to think about this, aren't you?
Here goes. Yes, this is all about freedom or as K frames "freedom from the known". It is easier for me to relate to the physical moments of "flow" than to the moments you are describing. I physically had that moment on the basketball court, where I could literally "swish' with eyes closed, or ride waves body surfing in what felt like forever in mili seconds. And, yes, on the golf course. It is freedom from thought when inside "time" is recognized as "timeless".
Beyond the purely physical there have been what I would describe as incipient moments or of insight beyond thought. They happen but rarely do I recognize them as such. Why is that he/she asks?
One possible reason is the possibility of not being in the moment. Another is the mind speedily takes over, masks them, or converts them to words, language, and categories. None of these are the thing.
Below is something I wrote yesterday in another comment that has some bearing.
Bruce Peters
Bruce’s Substack
May 24
Do you think we have forgotten how to be curious? It feels to me that so often I/we get stuck in what we know or think we know rather than curious about what we could learn. Years ago a mentor introduced the phrase "learning, growth, like". It was meant that learning leads to growth, leads to life". In each moment, in each scene what does it have to teach? Leave everything you know behind in service of what can be learned. Noticing, inside and out becomes a sort of superpower for learning. In a sense, each moment as well as your life becomes a meditation.
It strikes me that my Substack should merely be my comments on Substack.
When I created my SubStack Account I intended to explore these incipient or 'fork in the road" moments. Not the moments where we are making conscious choices. Rather what are the caterpillar-to-butterfly chrysalis moments that we humans pass? The only evidence that I have that these moments exist are the glimpses we're exploring.
Much of what Krishnamurti put down remains beyond my grasp. 🤷🏻♀️
In the spirit of playing my own game, I have stopped trying to make his philosophy my own. His experiences were quite different than mine. I did take some great gems from him like… Relationship only has value when it is a process of self-revelation.
You are writing and publishing now? How did I miss this? I will go and look for your account.
What resonates most for me from your comment is: Noticing inside and out becomes sort of a superpower for learning.
I am not writing beyond responding, commenting, or questioning others. The point is I went so far as to create Bruce's Substack. The intent was to explore the "forks in the road" or "choiceless moments". Up to now, I've published 'nada'.
It is the process of Inquiry that K utilizes that draws me in. Thayer actualizes it for me with "Learning. Growth, Life" in each moment. Patched together with Buber this gets as close to a way of living for how I show up. My life as meditation is the process of "noticing".
Love this post today Gail! Thank you so much. I have a Robin of my own. Still no babies yet. I get to peek in after my morning run. She is usually sitting in the nest so diligently. It's such a miracle and makes me smile each morning. Thank you.
My pleasure!
I'm glad you are getting the opportunity to witness the same miracle in your neck of the woods!
me too! Have a beautiful weekend.
Was it Twain who said that "golf was a way to spoil a nice walk in the woods? I have my own story related to quitting golf. I won't tell the whole story here except to "tee" up some interest. I scored 68 in my last round on a Championship course and tees. On the front 9 I scored 32 which was one shot shy of the course record. I didn't score any better on the back nine because my hands were shaking so much. At the time I was an 11 Handicap which for the uninitiated means my normal score on this particular course was 83. It was an out-of-body experience. I have never played a round or touched a club since then. Thanks for the reminder.
Thank you for sharing.
I have my own story about why you might have quit.
The door is open if you want to tell us your why. Or maybe, like a poet, you are nudging us to think for ourselves?
Poetry aside. The story is best told, embellished as I might with a glass of wine late in the day.
Absent the opportunity to sit with you here is my truth. Every swing gave me a glimpse of my potential. It scared me so much that I shrunk back and away. Marianne Williamson's admonishment about what we fear most is my lived experience. In those moments I could visualize the shape of the shot and the physical body of Bruce would create from that image. There was no "me" in those moments. Or more accurately the "real me" was unimpaired by thought or illusion of self. The gift to me was the experience. It was not about golf, was it?
Thank you for sharing. The story I was writing in my mind is similar to what you shared… with some nuance. (Was your experience with your 1st podcast similar?)
Yesterday I had the opportunity to record a conversation with my friend Ed Brenegar. One question led me to reflect on my gratitude for not having external success with my writing. (Internal growth/success is astronomical!)
A lack of external attention has freed me from the expectations of others… it’s freed me of expectations for myself. I am able to live in presence and creativity. I can shift from personal essay to poetry, or fiction. I can toss in visual art creation. I can create online events. I can go solo or collaborate.
Freedom?
Ah! Crap. You're inviting me actually to think about this, aren't you?
Here goes. Yes, this is all about freedom or as K frames "freedom from the known". It is easier for me to relate to the physical moments of "flow" than to the moments you are describing. I physically had that moment on the basketball court, where I could literally "swish' with eyes closed, or ride waves body surfing in what felt like forever in mili seconds. And, yes, on the golf course. It is freedom from thought when inside "time" is recognized as "timeless".
Beyond the purely physical there have been what I would describe as incipient moments or of insight beyond thought. They happen but rarely do I recognize them as such. Why is that he/she asks?
One possible reason is the possibility of not being in the moment. Another is the mind speedily takes over, masks them, or converts them to words, language, and categories. None of these are the thing.
Below is something I wrote yesterday in another comment that has some bearing.
Bruce Peters
Bruce’s Substack
May 24
Do you think we have forgotten how to be curious? It feels to me that so often I/we get stuck in what we know or think we know rather than curious about what we could learn. Years ago a mentor introduced the phrase "learning, growth, like". It was meant that learning leads to growth, leads to life". In each moment, in each scene what does it have to teach? Leave everything you know behind in service of what can be learned. Noticing, inside and out becomes a sort of superpower for learning. In a sense, each moment as well as your life becomes a meditation.
It strikes me that my Substack should merely be my comments on Substack.
When I created my SubStack Account I intended to explore these incipient or 'fork in the road" moments. Not the moments where we are making conscious choices. Rather what are the caterpillar-to-butterfly chrysalis moments that we humans pass? The only evidence that I have that these moments exist are the glimpses we're exploring.
Is any of this relevant to your life inquiry?
Much of what Krishnamurti put down remains beyond my grasp. 🤷🏻♀️
In the spirit of playing my own game, I have stopped trying to make his philosophy my own. His experiences were quite different than mine. I did take some great gems from him like… Relationship only has value when it is a process of self-revelation.
You are writing and publishing now? How did I miss this? I will go and look for your account.
What resonates most for me from your comment is: Noticing inside and out becomes sort of a superpower for learning.
This is how it feels for me, too.
I am not writing beyond responding, commenting, or questioning others. The point is I went so far as to create Bruce's Substack. The intent was to explore the "forks in the road" or "choiceless moments". Up to now, I've published 'nada'.
It is the process of Inquiry that K utilizes that draws me in. Thayer actualizes it for me with "Learning. Growth, Life" in each moment. Patched together with Buber this gets as close to a way of living for how I show up. My life as meditation is the process of "noticing".