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Don't Dip a Toe or Splash Your Face

About a week after I moved into my new apartment in Milwaukee I hit a wall, and when I say wall I am referring to a really difficult week. In the back of my mind I figured it was coming eventually but everything was going so smoothly, that I thought maybe this transition would actually be pretty seamless. Psych! I was so wrong-the transition sucked to be quite frank. Who knew moving in the middle of a pandemic would be emotionally draining and frightening? During that week I avoided a lot of phone calls because everyone I would be talking to was hours away. Part of me did not want to admit defeat, in retrospect I was also being lazy. I was being lazy because calling someone and expressing my frustration was going to take emotional effort and honestly who ever wants to cry? (ugh). I finally pulled my big girl pants on and called my grandma back and when I tell you it was fantastic I am not lying. After I called her I think the conversation unknowingly unblocked some emotional baggage and frustration that had been building up during the transition, because everything seemed to turn around.

Fast forward to the next weekend, my mom and sister came to stay with me and see my new digs, my grandma had sent an unexpected box with them. Among the various essential oils and health foods was a book titled 365 Tao Daily Meditation-a note was taped to the front that read “read every day so it’s there when you need it most”. I've read a page every morning since then. Now it's August and I am surprised it’s taken me this long to post a blog about the wisdom the book holds. This morning I woke up at 6:00 to complete my daily writing but before uncapping my pen I read today's meditation. Until today I started multiple blog posts but none of them felt right, but the combination of my morning pages writing and 365 Tao I finally was able to forge ahead with a post that felt right. Something jumped out at me and I knew right away it had to be written about:

“True absorption is a total involvement in the evolution of life without hesitation or contradiction. In nature there is no alienation. Everything belongs. Our alienation is self generated” (p.13)


HOW AWESOME IS THAT QUOTE? Read it again! Even as I am writing this I keep rereading it and loving all the truth it holds! If I could paraphrase parts to internalize it'd be- “total involvement without hesitation or contradiction” and “our alienation is self generated”. Pretty powerful stuff.

The human race is so wrapped up in petty drama, petty issues, petty schedules, etc. I could go on! We are so wrapped up in the small parts of our world that we’re unable to focus on the process of growth and evolution. We are not as eager to make bold decisions and make the most of our time, because parts of us are chained to bogus. I think this is a intense yet enlightening quote because it's a reminder that we really are forging ahead in practices that don’t allow for growth or courageous choices! When I was in Ghana I remember frequently reflecting on the main road that carved through my college town, and in my mind it was full of cars and drive-thru franchises. That image was/is the representation of the society and culture we have built in our lives; fast paced and temporary. We are going mach 2 and building practices that don’t even contribute to our well being. This has prevented us from slowing down enough to develop a process that allows us to crave risks!

I was looking for a background for my school laptop the other day, some were great reminders to forge ahead for what WE want but others just relayed the message to stop trying. There is a FINE line between reevaluating the process and cutting petty elements out of our lives and passively getting through life and HOPING it all goes in your favor. I need to remind myself lately to be actively aware of the decisions being made and making sure they are contributing to self growth. I’m reading a book right now that talks about a censor. The author refers to the censor as a part of ourselves that makes our decisions. The censor makes sure that all our choices are practical, safe, already tested and made by everyone.


The point of this blog is not to lecture you or shame you. It really is just a place where I am processing and putting all of my thoughts on paper. What I am hoping you take away from this is what I took away this morning, I hope you are reminded that you should be evaluating yourself, choices and elements in your life. Evaluate them to make sure they are contributing to your growth and evolution. We as humans have lost touch with the process of evolving and diving headfirst into opportunities, we need to get back in touch with that. The censor has taken over every part of our lives and with that we have developed the inability to evolve because evolving means we are in uncharted territory and the censor does NOT like that.

Evolve. Dive in. Be courageous. Actively enjoy the process of growth (but don’t just sit back and hope for a transformation).

“True absorption is total involvement”


Read that again. Total involvement means your whole being is diving into the cold water. Not just dipping a toe in or splashing it on your face. We cannot continue to alienate from life and bold changes. Transformation comes in the form of lifestyle, habits, mindset etc. literally anything. Hope is not a plan. Don’t let the censor make all your choices because nothing will ever change!


Ps. I will plug the three books I referenced because they will CHANGE YOUR OUTLOOK ON EVERYTHING!


Xoxo

Corrinne Ruth






 
 
 

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