Best Wisdom of 2021
As I reflect back on this past year, here are 6 important bits of wisdom that have guided me through.
1. Trust
"Without trust there is no peace. " - Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Trust your unique path and the natural processes that are ever-leading to healing, awakening, freedom and empowerment.
Trust yourself. Trust that you are loving and lovable. Trust that you are wise and guided by wisdom.
2. Play
"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” - Albert Einstein
Prioritizing play is more powerful (and fun!) than prioritizing discipline, productivity, or winning.
Honor imagination, creative practices, collaborations, and spending time doing joyful activities for their own sake.
"According to research by Dr. Karyn Purvis, scientists have discovered that it takes approximately 400 repetitions to create a new synapse in the brain, unless it is done in play, in which case it only takes 10 to 20 repetitions."
https://www.oaktreekids.com/.../the-importance-of-play-in....
3. Receive
"The giver is always ready to give. The taker is absent." - Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
I got more comfortable asking for help in 2021. And for truly accepting the help available.
I am learning that it's my own ideas of what I "should" have that usually block me off from receiving what I really need, what's on tap here and now.
4. Have integrity + honor simplicity
"Jesus said, 'A person cannot mount two horses or draw two bows at the same time. And a servant cannot serve two masters, unless he honors the one while insulting the other.'" - The Book of Thomas
When I try to prioritize more than one thing at once I scatter my attention and energy and feel like a failure. When I try to please all the people I encounter, I always feel like I'm disappointing someone.
I need to get clear about what is most important and just show up for that. To truly respect what I most trust and value, I need to stop serving lesser sources and intentions. Time to let those wild horses go!
5. Make friends with not knowing
Even though most of reality is actually unconscious, as-yet-unknown, or simply unknowable, I still get really attached to knowledge and the identity of being "the knower."
"The idea that you know what is true is dangerous, for it keeps you imprisoned in the mind. It is when you do not know that you are free to investigate. And there can be no salvation without investigation because non-investigation is the main cause of bondage." - Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
6. Make space for just being
We truly are creating our reality every time we choose a thought, word or action. Mystics have said so for millennia. More recently there is scientific and mathematical evidence to back this up, expressed below in terms of the particle-wave duality.
"An electron is said to be in a superposition of many places at once because, like all quantum objects, it exists in a cloud of possibilities. These possibilities are encoded in a mathematical entity called the wave function, until it is measured. At that point, the wave function collapses and all the possibilities are reduced to one. The electron assumes a single, definite position or state – something we would recognise as real."
https://www.newscientist.com/.../mg24532670-800-what-you.../
In every moment of DOING we are choosing to from the options present in the wave of potential, taking a "cloud of possibilities," and collapsing them all down to one single choice, a particle of reality. “Doing” here does not just mean taking physical action, but also "choosing" a thought.
In every moment of just BEING we are allowing that "cloud of possibilities" to grow and expand, making our choices less and less limited. That's why meditation and times of rest are so important if we want to feel truly free and empowered to make our own choices.
What is your best wisdom from the year?
I have a guided meditation + journaling prompts specially offered help you reflect at nowherevillage.org.
I would love to hear about your best collected wisdom from 2021 there!