I haven’t posted in some time! I’ve been away for nearly a month. As I return I am reminded of something Jim Harrison once wrote: “Finding myself where I already am is a daily chore.” This feels particularly true right now, as I’m finding my way back home. What is “where I already am”, anyway? And what’s the path to getting there?
Something I’ve been considering this week is that part of the the return path is remembering and dreaming, and the other part is placing yourself firmly where you are (at the desk, in the garden, in a difficult conversation, advocating for yourself, etc.). What’s required is that we show up over and over in our commitments so that we can see and remember who we are. Sometimes our commitments can serve as ballast, sometimes as a path forward. They help us to navigate.
Photo by John Salzarulo on Unsplash
Part of my “way home” is reaching out (emails, phone calls, lunches) and a larger part is, perhaps, reaching in. I reach in by recovering my sitting practice, by writing in my journal each morning, by asking myself hard questions, by re-entering the coaching work with clients, by talking to my mother. Another way back for me is to dive into new learning, which I just did as I traveled to San Rafael to engage in leadership embodiment training. I’ll really know I’m back when I can sit at my writing desk and reach in to recent experiences and find a poem there.
As I sit, as I write, as I participate in calls with colleagues and in business development work, I realize what I am doing most consistently to find my way back home is to ask myself questions that can help to both locate me and to carve the path forward. So here are some questions for you. Take a break, a breath, lengthen up the length of your spine and beyond, drop your attention to your hara, take a few deep breaths from that physical center of your body, let gravity hold you, feel your feet deepening into your very own ground…and consider:
- What does this ground I have arrived on look like, feel like, taste like?
- What does it mean to remember who I am, what I am?
- If I were to dream my path forward, what might that look like?
- In this moment, what am I committed to that matters deeply to me?
- Name three ways you find your way back to yourself on a daily basis.
- What is a question I can ask myself right now that would help me carve a path more deeply into my life?
Let me know how you do. Leave a comment. Engage.
I love reading all that you write. It truly inspires me!
Love,
Your mother
That makes me so very happy.
I really love your writing. This is beautiful, and you explore so much depth. I loved the balance between reaching in and reaching out. Of remembering and dreaming, and placing yourself firmly where you are. In my own practice, I am always exploring and finding the balance, the both and, walking with and walking within. Your words touch my heart and inspire me. Thank you!
What a treat to read and feel your comment, Aspen. Thank you. I am glad my writing inspires you. Thanks for all you say here. Perhaps it will inspire me to get back to blog-writing. I’m working on a book, though, something that offers more reaching in/out within the lens of writing and somatic work. So, there will be that. All best wishes to you in your own explorations.