Homesick for a Direct Connection with Life

I dipped into my first book Belonging to Life the other day and was so moved by it. I actually learned/remembered a lot from rereading a book I wrote!

On the first page of the first chapter is one of my all-time favorite quotes:

“People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonance within our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive. That’s what it’s all finally about.”

~Joseph Campbell

It woke up a memory of a silent retreat I gifted myself with a number of years ago. It was at the exquisitely beautiful Earth Sanctuary on Whidbey Island, Washington.

I was sitting one day on a hill above one of the woodland ponds, simply opening to life. The wind was dancing through the trees, creating a beautiful symphony of sound that was accompanied by the musicality of thousands of birds. The wind then danced across the water in heart opening ripples.

After a bit, rain began, and rather than closing down in resistance, I opened up to it much like I must have done as a child. What magic it is to let the rain touch you. The rain would also dance across the water in different variations of movements, and I felt such gratitude that I was able to come out of thinking about life into simply experiencing it.

When I first started doing this, a number of years ago, I would quickly get bored (boredom is just awareness trapped in your mind!) or start judging myself for how well I was doing, or I would try to ‘do’ being!!

After learning how to unhook from all the stories in my head, it had become easier to deeply relax into life. In this place of stillness came arising a deep knowing – that we are all so addicted to being entertained – movies, music, television, computers, ipads, because we are homesick for a direct connection with life.

This is why Joseph said that we are not seeking meaning – we are not, nor ever will be, nourished by thinking about life. Meaning has its place, but it keeps us stuck in our heads, cut off from the nourishment of resonance when our body/mind/heart all vibrate with the joy of life. Or as Joseph said, “Our life experiences on the purely physical plane have resonance within our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.” That’s what it’s all finally about.

So be willing to come back to life today. For a moment here and a moment there, stop and allow a deep breath, and say to yourself, “I’m here! Or use the song of birds to remind you that this moment IS the only moment that matters in your life. (You’d be amazed at how many places – even deep in the heart of cities – you can hear the sounds of birds.) Maybe take a moment and see your place of work as if you have never been there before! Give yourself the gift of directly experiencing your life. Give yourself the gift of opening a doorway into the joy that is always here.

And know, the more you come back to life, the more you become a healing presence in the world.

If this blog resonated with you and want to explore more of my work, I invite you to listen to my upcoming radio show on Dreamvisions 7 Radio: How to Bring Healing to Your Suffering, It will air on Thursday, December 19th at 5am and 5pm HERE. After the 19th, it will be available on demand, along with every other radio show I’ve ever done HERE. Please feel free to explore my catalog and listen to topics that call to you.

Offerings:

NOW RESCHEDULED: Free Live Call: Does Pain have to be so Painful?

We will now be meeting on Tuesday, January 14th at 5:30 pm PST for an hour and a half. We will continue to meet every two months, so keep an eye out for future events!

We all experience pain.  And we all experience all levels of pain – physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual.

But we are living in an exciting time where we are changing our relationship to pain.  Join Mary in exploring how, rather than resisting the pains in your life, you can befriend them so that you receive the gifts that always come with them.

Don’t forget if you can’t make it on the day, you can still participate by sending your questions and enjoying the recording after the call at your convenience. I hope to see you there!

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