The Full Pallette of Wisdom

Right now, it’s the tenth night after the nine nights of the goddess in the Indian holiday of Navaratri, see https://deniseporterkemp.wordpress.com/2012/10/19/navaratri-the-nine-nights-of-the-goddess/ for more explanation…

Something I’ve been experiencing in all this is that being open to the wisdom that comes to me includes being able to stay open to the things I don’t want to see, too – in myself and all around me. Without trying to block it or fix it. Or fix how I feel about it, no matter how raw it feels sometimes. Or feel too sorry for myself or others about it, either. Well, maybe a little bit at first…yet then letting that veil drop, too, and just breathing it in, letting it integrate, no matter how uncomfortable it is to sit with it.

For wisdom, truth as we are currently capable of experiencing it, doesn’t always show you the things you think you want to see. And being aligned with “truth” doesn’t always mean you get what you think you want. It – the wisdom, the truth – holds all sides of the spectrum. None cancels the other out, the beauty or the tragedy or the mundane that lies between. Fighting or ignoring just prolongs the suffering and keeps us from seeing what we actually have to work with.

So on this day that asks us to begin again, my intention is to continue to clear and sensitize and strengthen myself so that I can stay awake in all of it, as best I can. Not shutting any of it out just because I don’t want to have to see it. Observing, learning. Reorganizing when I realize I have been confused. Letting go of grasping for what’s not when I realize I’m doing it. With as little judgement as possible, beginning again. Embracing the potential of what lies before me, as best I can. Right now.

(written last night, October 24, 2012)

choice

It is not always easy to know the next right thing to do.  It can backfire to simply rely on a preconceived idea of right and wrong, for the nuances of each circumstance are too subtle for that.  So I work to keep myself as strong and clear as I can so I can be sensitive to the particularities of each situation.  Noticing with as little judgement as possible, with compassion, empathy, AND discernment.  Aware of my own intention.  Willing to shift when I realize I am out of harmony, even when that is after the fact.  Even when it becomes clear that the appropriate action is counter to the stock answer.  Moving from a place of love and respect over greed.  As best I can, each moment a new chance to try again.  Experiential wisdom – paying attention and learning as we go.