Some of you may have noticed that I altered my blog header photo. I added the words “Unbearable Lightness” in script across the middle of the mystical looking woodland scene. (That photo is from Hocking Hills, Ohio, an area 40 miles south of flat Columbus. The region is hilly, unusual for Ohio. Th natural limestone hollows in the area, resembling caves, have been a tourist attraction since the mid 1800’s. Those beautiful natural formations exudes a magical feel. American Indians used many of the caves as meeting places for their enhanced acoustics.)
I read Milan Kundera’s book Unbearable Lightness of Being in the 1980’s. I’ve always loved the title and the book itself was a revelation for me. It’s message, that life’s mysterious existence and our even more inexplicable awareness of it, reminded me of Buddhist awareness of the power of the present moment. Yet Kundera embellishes the emotionality of being in the present, how excruciatingly poignant life can be both in its sadness and joy.
It all passes, the joy and the pain, as do we ourselves. How better to describe that terrifying and beautiful feeling, the emotional openness of being in the present moment no matter how desperately we my wish to get away from it, than with the phrase “unbearable lightness”? The irony of the phrase delivers the appropriate impact of such a powerful sense of aliveness.
So my blog is now un-officialy titled “Unbearable Lightness“.
I just brushed one of my cats before letting him out. At first I did it without thinking, then I let myself relish the pleasure of connecting with this little soul and giving him pleasure while grooming him.
Whatever you do, do it with love. By that I mean do it as if it were the only time you do it, perhaps the last time. We all live as if there is ALWAYS another chance, which there usually is. However, living fully means expressing the poignant urgency, the wistful beauty of each moment, without bitterness, as it passes us.
We tend to see every event in terms of what it isn’t. We measure and parse accordingly, allowing happiness when something happens which averages better that usual. But that’s not the way it really is. Each moment is unique. Live to that idea and you will live fully.
Weep with your whole being when there is great loss. Smile with your whole self when life offers a gift, as it so often does.
Write your name on today, a gift you will never get again in the very same way.
While searching and striving for what you want in life, don’t miss the little miracles always happening behind passing moments. They are easily missed.
Blessings,
Garnet David
Some thoughts on Truth (reality), Possibility (change) and Being (consciousness).
Possibility (change) is what brings Being (consciousness) to Truth (reality). Possibility keeps open the door to new combinations and patterns within Truth.
Truth guides all possibilities to one present moment, the singularity of which branches out in all directions and encompasses All.
Truth is the track upon which Being unfolds. Possibility is the fuel of Being.
Being is the path Possibility alights along the tracks of Truth.
Truth is the grid, Possibility is the paint, or perhaps film. Being is the story.
The poetry of Being could be said to be its Spirit. The text, syntax and vocabulary of Being is formulated into meaning and beauty by each person. This interpretation and application of meaning and beauty raises humanity above mere existence. Spirit is meaning springing from Possibility.
I just started browsing a little book called “What is Spirit?”, edited by Lexie Brockway Potamkin. It’s a collection of answers to that question by numerous artists, philosophers, shamans, religious leaders, political leaders and common people.
Around the world I’m sure there are as many definitions as grains of sand on the beach. I think it’s an ongoing process for all of us. At the beginning of the book a blank page suggests the reader posit a definition of spirit before continuing. At the end is another blank page. It will be interesting to see if my definition changes after reading the ideas of others.
It’s been awhile since I wrote specifically about spirit. I wrote a long personal article on it months ago, now posted at the top of this blog in the menu bar. I also wrote a short definition for the book, which I posted here. But before you read either of those, go ahead and give me what you’ve got in your head right now.
What is spirit to you?
