Exposed.

We spend a lot of time and effort to make ourselves comfortable, secure, safe.  That notion of comfort and safety really pulls on our hearts and minds, maybe because we think we can do what we really want to do once we have it secured.

But there is something to be said for being exposed.

Raw. Naked. Vulnerable. Exposed to the elements. To pain and adversity.  There is something about being exposed that makes us feel alive.

I don't know if other people get the feeling that they want to be exposed to the raw elements. 

I know I do.

Do you?

 

When do we let go?

We have all been hurt in the past.  We have been wronged, disrespected, mistreated.  Some of us have experienced small slights, some offenses have been traumatic and left wounds that are still open. 

When do we let that pain go?  Does holding onto it serve us in any way that is beneficial?

Holding onto it continues to fuel the fire.  We relive it.  We talk ourselves through it and try to imagine how it could have changed or been different.  It is our wound, and we are holding onto it. 

When do we let it go? 

Not let it go and pretend it didn't happen.  When do we let go of what we think life would be like without the wound.  When do we let go of the fantasy that the wound will stop impacting our life. 

You have a wound.  We all have our wounds.  They are tender, raw, and vulnerable.  We can sit with that.  We can work with that.  That is work worth doing. 

We spend so much time trying to cover up our wounds, hide them from the world and pretend like they don't exist.  But they do exist, in all of us.  They make us human.  They provide an opportunity for us to look into our own suffering and connect with the suffering of others. 

When we are truly open to having our wounds be exposed, then we realize the impact of harming another living being.  Then we can start to commit to doing no harm.

#DoNoHarm

Naked

'Our life is shaped by our mind, we become what we think.'
Siddhartha Gautama

Stand naked.  For a moment today stand naked before the mirror, the mirror of our own mind.  

It is incredibly difficult to stand in the present moment.  It is too simple, too raw, too naked.  We are quick to reach for a towel, flex our muscles, correct our posture, pluck our eyebrows or cover up our blemishes.  It is very difficult to stand tall in our inherent goodness, the basic dignity of being who you are, right now. 

It is not just the embarrassment, shame, guilt or fear of our own bodies; it is also our feelings, our actions and our past.  We don't know how to work with all of that when we stand before it, it is often easier to get dressed and keep moving.  

But this is the battlefield.  This is the meditation.  The present moment is the ground upon which all the work is done and it is simultaneously the result of fulfillment. 

This ever-present moment, if we can learn to face our fears and the darkness that we hide in our hearts, opens up into the eternally youthful present- peaceful, content and free of elaboration. 

It is only by abiding in this timeless state of complete nakedness that we can come to appreciate the wellsprings of the Great Perfection. 

Barefoot Living

You've heard the news,
barefoot running is the hot new trend.
Its benefits are applauded-
Less pain in the feet, better form and more fun.

What if we made the jump to barefoot living?
     Simple.
     Free.
     Open.
     Raw.

What if we simplified all our projects, goals and expectations?
What if we freed all our pains, plans and problems?
What if we opened our hands, hearts and minds?
What if we lived in the present, opened our hearts to tenderness, and enjoyed the rawness of every interaction in the world around us?


It is possible.
Everyone would applaud its benefits-
Life would have less pain, better form and be more fun.


Go ahead.  Take your shoes off.