Flouting Conventional Wisdom

The other week I had a conversation with a friend who told me instead of following conventional wisdom and keeping his part-time job to pay the bills, he devoted himself completely to his own business and went into debt. And now, years later, his business is taking off and turning a profit. I love stories like this because they remind me there isn't only one way to do things.

Our society likes to give advice – we spend millions of dollars on self-help books every year. We constantly think someone else knows how to do things. We hear people say things like, “It's when you stop looking for a relationship that you find one,” and absorb it like the gospel truth. Except, for every couple who had that experience, I can name another pair who married because they met through a dating app. They were actively looking and it worked out.

Sometimes we have to forge our own way. Photo by Nathan McBride on Unsplash.

As for myself, it's scary and thrilling to contemplate there's more than one way to do things. It's scary and thrilling for me to contemplate that sometimes conventional wisdom is wrong. It feels much safer to purchase an e-course for four easy payments of $99.99 that will give me the steps to success. A guarantee that I, too, can have the life of my dreams if I only follow the advice of someone else. I want to acknowledge here self-help books and e-courses have merit. I've purchased many of them and they improved my life, but only the books and courses that encouraged me to seek my own internal wisdom. The books and courses that led me deeper into myself were the most helpful because ultimately we are each our own compass.

According to my spiritual philosophy, we are each a reflection of Cosmic Consciousness. We are all mirrors showing an image of the same moon, so to speak. However, each mirror is unique with different shapes and sizes. Some mirrors are dirtier than others. Some mirrors are cracked. But each mirror is still reflecting the moon. And when I think about my mirror reflecting the moon, I feel more at peace because the inner compass exists. I have a guide already to show me where I need to go.

Last week I spoke about trusting in the divine and understanding the universe may only light up one or two steps in front of me. But the path is there, and sometimes the path requires I deviate from the established footsteps of those before me. Sometimes it means heading into uncharted territory but that doesn't mean I'm without a guide.

I dream of a world where we remember we have our own internal guidance system. A world where we realize sometimes we have to find our own way and it may not always make sense. A world where we understand we are all different and what works for someone else may not work for us. A world where we understand sometimes we have to flout conventional wisdom.

Another world is not only possible, it's probable.

Trust in the Divine

A few years ago I went to a neuro-linguistic programming workshop and the organizer said desire works in one of two ways: push or pull. We either say, “Yes, that” about something, or “No, not this.” What I'm realizing is intuition works in the same way.

I'm familiar with the “yes, that” intuition – it drove me to move to San Francisco, to call that person last week, to read that book. I know how to handle “yes, that” intuition. “No, not this” is more challenging. I don't mean the one-off, “Don't go down that dark alley” sort. That's easy to listen to. What I find more difficult is the sort of intuition that says, “You can't live here” and there's no other home showing up. Or the intuition that says, “You can't work here” but another job is not on the horizon. It's the directionless, leap-of-faith intuition that unnerves me.

 I associate light with the divine. Photo by Micah Hallahan on Unsplash.

My spiritual teacher defines intuition as a reflection of Consciousness, or Spirit. He also says that meditation leads to a clearer reflection of Consciousness. When I think about it like that, intuition becomes more simple. It's a snapshot in time. It's an expression of something greater than me, not a seven-point plan for life.

Something I often tell my mentees is higher power will shine a flashlight, dictating where to put our feet next, and that's it. I want higher power to light up the sky and show me all the steps, give me all the directions, indicate exactly where I'm heading, but it doesn't always work that way. In my experience, the way forward is often unknown and my part is to trust the path will appear. Even when it's scary, even when it doesn't make sense, even when it flies in the face of conventional wisdom.

It's interesting for me to notice when I play trust games with people I have no problems. I will close my eyes and allow myself to walk forward blindly, knowing the people I'm playing with will keep me from running into trees or stumbling over rocks. However, when it comes to trusting the divine, I don't feel quite so fearless. I'd much rather keep my eyes open and see where I'm going.

The conclusion I'm coming to is at this point in my life my eyes must stay closed. I'm getting the full, well-rounded picture of intuition, trusting the future will be exactly what I need. Trusting that even though I can't see what's next, the divine can and is taking care of it.

I dream of a world where we recognize intuition doesn't always guide us to something, that sometimes it steers us away from something. A world where we realize we can't always know exactly what's next. A world where we remember taking a leap of faith means trusting in the divine and we do just that.

Another world is not only possible, it's probable.

The Individual and the Collective

Lately I've been thinking about the role of the individual and the collective and how sometimes the individual's desires are met at the expense of the collective's. In particular, I'm thinking in the context of climate change. Recently I read the most horrific article about climate change predicting a genocide from it. How in some places drought will last for five years. Five years! People, I'm not too proud to admit I'm terrified, because I am.

I also thought about how we got into this mess and from my perspective anyway, it seems in many cases we put short-term gain before long-term sustainability. How some corporations decided as long as they could make a profit now, that's all that mattered. The future? Well, that's in the future. Worry about it then. I realize I'm painting corporations as the villain, but corporations are made up of people. I see shortsightedness in individuals as well. When I lived in London, I had a roommate who steamed a dress by running the shower while she puttered around in the bedroom. When I called her on it, she said, “Well, I pay for the water.” Her response dumbfounded me. What do you even say to that? She felt like she had every right to waste water because she paid for it. In that circumstance anyway she didn't think about the impact of her actions. She only thought about how she wanted her dress wrinkle-free but didn't want to expend time ironing it.

We're all spinning on the same blue planet. Photo by NASA on Unsplash.

Sometimes we live in bubbles and think our actions don't affect other people or our environment. We don't think about how interdependent we all are. On the other hand, sometimes we take too much responsibility. I read another article in the Guardian about how our personal actions to combat climate change only go so far. Switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs only does so much. Of course it makes a difference, but the scale is small compared with the greenhouse gases emitted by agribusiness and factories. Many of us have bought into the idea solving climate change is the individual's responsibility. It is. And it's not. We must work in tandem. Carry a canvas tote bag but also put pressure on corporations to change their ways. Drive an electric car but also demand the government build better public transportation infrastructure.

This post is a little all over the place but what I'm getting at is sometimes for the good of the collective we have to sacrifice a little. Sometimes for the good of the collective we can't think only of ourselves and what works for us. Sometimes we have to think about other people too and the environment and how all the pieces fit together. We have to remember we aren't our own ecosystems. We aren't islands completely removed from others. We all fit together and that means our selfish and self-centered tendencies must be reigned in. We are individuals and we are a collective. Both matter and both have a part to play. For the long-term health of the planet, we must learn to work together in harmony.

I dream of a world where we balance the needs of individuals with the needs of society as a whole. A world where we keep in mind the future and long-term sustainability of the planet and each other. A world where we learn to work in harmony for the good of all of us.

Another world is not only possible, it's probable.

Watch Time versus Calendar Time

This weekend I met someone formerly associated with my yoga and meditation group way back in the 70s when he lived in Atlanta. That may not seem especially remarkable, but it's literally never happened to me before. I've met people who had some exposure to it, but not people who engaged with the practices and then drifted away. My yoga and meditation group, while worldwide, is small and the chances of an affiliation with it coming up in a first conversation with someone at a party is unlikely. I grin thinking about the encounter from this weekend because it reminds me the universe is not random and chaotic. There is an order and an intelligence at play of which I get glimpses sometimes.

I take comfort in believing order and intelligence reigns because there are a lot of things going on in the world and in my life that I don't understand, that I wish were different. There are certain elected officials I wish weren't in office. There are certain policies I wish were abolished. I wish my body reacted differently to certain foods. I wish I didn't have certain ailments. And when I spend all my time wishing things were different – while also working to change them – I get frustrated and feel like I'm beating my head against a brick wall. I easily succumb to despair. When life throws a little magic, a little synchronicity my way, hope flares up again and I'm reminded that perhaps I'm unable to see the whole picture. That I'm a character in a play that only knows her lines and not the lines of everyone else.

And then there's sand timer time. Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

The other reason I appreciate the encounter from this weekend is the demonstration that things circle back. The man I met hasn't been an active member of my group for nearly 50 years and now he might pick it up again. In my mind, if something doesn't happen in the short term, it will never happen. I have big dreams and at the moment it seems like I'm veering away from them. I have sadness about that because these dreams are near and dear to my heart, but at the moment they aren't feasible given my energy levels and my financial situation. Does that mean I give them up for good?

Intellectually I understand the answer to that question is “no.” I see many models in society of people who accomplished things later in life, but emotionally, the answer feels like a “yes.” The more reminders I have that things circle back, that dreams can be delayed, the better.

My spiritual teacher says that “whatever happens in this universe of ours is nothing but an expression of Cosmic desire or Cosmic will … when a human desire and His desire coincide, then only does the human desire become fruitful, otherwise it is a sure failure.”

Sometimes when I want something to happen doesn't match up to when the cosmos wants something to happen. Sometimes the soil isn't fertile enough. Sometimes you plant something and the yield is pitiful, but after adding nutrients to the soil, the yield is plentiful. I'm reminded here the universe is playing a long game. My recovery mentor says, “You're looking at your watch while Higher Power is looking at the calendar.” My part I think is having patience, trust, and faith in the timing of things.

I dream of a world where we remember the universe has a long-term plan while many of us only think in the short term. A world where we recognize if we're not ready for something just yet, it will circle back to us if it's meant to be. A world where we realize while it may not seem so on the surface, the world is an ordered, intelligent place.

Another world is not only possible, it's probable.