even just a little, like one second….just a little pencil every day?
they continue, the atmospheric river and whatever they are going to call this WIND that is accompanying…..a HUGE wind that does not pause, this wind does not breathe
and she tells us the art of concentration is a continual letting go
“the art of concentration is a continual letting go”.
One of the things I so love about coming here is that grace, you present ideas and concepts that often give me the ability to go deeper into myself.. I feel free to share, albeit at times, perhaps too much long-winded sharing, but here has always been a place for truth:
Learning to let go, to not react from the gut, has been a life long exercise for me and yesterday, it rose up as a shield. Sister in law, who lives in New Mexico called for a chat. We had not spoken in some time, and certainly not about the election. So as she told of family doings, out of the blue, she talked and talked about how the relatives, who live in southern CA, were all involved with their local Republican chapters, attending meetings, etc. As she kept on talking, I felt my hackles rising, my anger rising, my mouth so wanting to shout. It is not as if she does not know my politics, I have been in the family for over 54 years. BUT, I held it together, concentrated on my breathing and quietly said, “Thanks for the update but I am not at all interested in the political activities of the family, I’d much rather know how they are doing in the aftermath of the deadly fires and what they are doing to help their communities.” She got very quiet and told me that all had been ok, not affected and had sent $, clothing and donated some time with local food banks. I replied, “this is the best kind of family news, the reading out across political lines to help each other. Our country was founded on this.” Shortly after, we said goodbye.
Here at windthread, I have offered up info from reliable sources about how we manage what is before us, how to engage with those who do not share our beliefs and how to do it in a way that, while standing and facing, is not volatile or mean-spirited. I am not sure I lived up to that yesterday; maybe I did, maybe I did not. Maybe my ego got in the way; I don’t know. What I do know is that I tried to rise to the situation without my usual
hotheadedness. I am curious to know how any of you have handled similar situations…
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correction: sentence should read, reaching out not reading out.
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Marti….this is where we’ve gotten to now. I think that last sentence…curious….is a good place to be…curious how we can live through these days.
Having known you so long, i also know something of your SIL and Nephew. And yes…she does, i’m sure, know full well where you Stand….and still….she brought the exchange that she felt she had “the right” to bring.
where we are now isn’t about “politics” anymore…is far beyond that and more and more daily. how do we respond? not just to others, but INSIDE OURSELVES… not react but respond
i welcome any exchange about these things….
it IS a place of truth. a safe place to explore this new territory. Thank you for bringing this, for being YOU, we need each other in these times.
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Marti~ I think you handled this well.
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Grace~ Respond, not react…always, always a good reminder. xo
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I am thinking a lot about what we can control and what is out of our reach. It’s seems like something to let go of…the things we can’t do anything about. Tough one. Much love to all.
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Thank you Marti and Grace for this conversation. I struggle between wanting to take some kind of action (currently calling my elected representatives) while wondering if it even makes a difference v.s. just tucking my head down and concentrate on my job at the small rare disease nonprofit where I work. Wondering whether I should pull money out of the bank but how far will that even go if I do? I am grateful for this space where there is a broader perspective and honesty about where we are all at. Most grateful for the quiet calm that can be found here.
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I’d even say Marti handled it beyond well … it’s a model of how to stand and hold to one’s truest values … it brings to mind Michelle Obama’s words: “when they go low, we go high”
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Hi Marti, I don’t see anything volatile or mean-spirited in how you handled the conversation. I wish I had more forthrightness in steering away from “hot” areas as you did.
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this is THE reason why i’ll comeback to these blog’s honestly and truth open words , thank you for this , i support this
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thinking a lot about this..it’s Thursday….
about what it means to not be able to control…and
what to do
there’s so MUCH we are not in control of, really, almost everything in life. So…how do we develop relationship to that reality?
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i’d like this space to Open out more…to hold all of our
senses of how to live during these times…keep a dialog going…about what we do and what that feels like…
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love this..i support this….love this, Maria….love you
and to Belgium…i am sorry for who you are seeing us to be in this time, this us of America There ARE those of us who are who you had thought we were
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I am too. One of the things I am thinking about is how in my work with children, I always want to make sure that they don’t take the role of “victim” in their interactions. I think as adults it’s a trap we can fall into as well. All this change that is happening…feeling like we have no power over it. But we do, in our day to day lives, all the interactions we have…we have choices.
Not to take this lightly (and I will probably write about this on my blog too), when we are making we constantly are making choices. We are practicing a “decision making” muscle. We have to keep this alive and role model it for others…
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