Be like the trees
I recently attended an online Mindful Living Summit and listened to Wendy Palmer present “Embodied Leadership: Mindfulness as a Tool for Leading with Presence.” She said that scientists agree we’re not solid. We’re made up of particles and waves, which are made up of atoms, which are composed mainly of space. Then she said:
See ourselves as a vehicle — to let things through.
Usually we see ourselves as agents, not vehicles. We do things. Say things. Make things happen. Palmer suggests I let things through.
“Let what through?” I ask myself when I turn off the computer, lean back in the chair and sip coffee.
To help me answer the question, I think of things in my life that had let things through today:
The computer let through the Mindful Living Summit so I could experience it.
The study window let through sunlight.
The kitchen pipe let through water so I could make a pot of coffee.
The air molecules in the room let through the sound of the speakers.
The trees outside the window let through the breeze to create soulful music.
These are such simple, common procedures we take for granted, but I’m struck today by the fact that our whole existence is based on things being let through.
So, my next question is: What is it that I’m here to let through?
Reciprocally, what am I not letting through? What am I preventing coming into being?
Is peace trying to find a way through, and I’m so caught up in frustration, anger or bewilderment that it can’t come through?
Is creativity tapping on me, wanting a way through, and I’m too busy fretting about the future to feel its gentle touch?
Am I allowing love, joy, kindness and compassion to flow through me and out into the world?
Living with mindfulness
From time to time throughout the day, pause and ask yourself questions like: What am I stopping from happening that would be good? What am I denying, blocking or preventing, that this world needs right now?
Letting things through isn’t a passive existence.
It’s a conscious way of living.
Be like the trees.
Let the forces of the universe flow through you to make soulful music.
With love, Marlane
Original version published on Medium.com/Illumination