The Meaning of Life

How presumptuous of me :  to think that I have figured out the meaning of life.  And yet, to be sure, I have figured it out for mySelf.

Things change.  There was a time when I was driven by a bottomless well of caring that my potential, and yours… as human beings… was given the chance to be fully expressed.  In that, I felt it was both meaningful and important – for me and potentially, for others – to engage, explore, discover, become and then, share the journey along the way that others might find a meaningful path for themselves.

Been there. Done that.  Bought the t-shirt.   Moving on…..

Fast forward to this moment, and my life has changed.  I believe that because of what I have discovered; because of who I have become, I am now both willing and able to let go.  In that letting go, I choose to fully embrace this moment as well as what lies ahead.

In the last 24 hours, I have had the great privilege of finding myself in the midst of (quite likely) the most compelling, provocative and life-altering explorations with the truly courageous.  Daring to put voice to the deepest and darkest doubts; daring to uncover and reveal what has seemed to be a deep, dark pit of vulnerability, uncertainty, trust and distrust…. all pieces in a new puzzle of potential revealing itself as we went along.  Today, I and others now stand in a different place.

Here, in its greatest simplicity, is what we have discovered.

Focus on living a life that brings you joy; and at every opportunity, make a  difference.
Say.  Ask.  Declare.  Decline.  Point.  Reveal.  Request.  Without apology; without hesitation and, as required, in spite of the fear. 
Live out loud, in the presence of others, allowing your choices to speak for you.  No words required.  

It took us a while to get there and yet, once we arrived, it all seemed so evident.

Without the joy, we are unwilling and unable to engage.  We become depleted; pulled into a sink-hole of dread and fatigue; often succumbing to a sense of hopelessness, overwhelm and grief at the loss of what was and what might be.  Without joy, it can be exhausting, on all levels, to be on this planet as Gaia begins to awaken her own defences and we struggle to break free of the concrete of denial that this is not so.

Without making a difference, we must blind ourselves to a more expansive truth that surrounds us and penetrates our sheltered ‘reality’.  We begin to fracture… inside, where we live… as we seek to insulate ourselves from the harsh decline of the very world that sustains our bio-life.  We are organic and require healthy, self-sustaining organic systems to ensure the survival of our own.

At one point in our conversation,  a story was told of seeing Orcas at play while, in the background, a huge sea-going vessel was pulling away from loading the remnants of the destruction of a mountain, to be shipped to some far-off place on the other side of the world.  The challenge for us, is:  both are true. Both are real. And both are the essential elements of the world in which we live.

To be whole, we must embrace both. To be unique, we must be willing to allow the full measure of the inner truth we carry – the joy and the rage and the grief and the fear – to be embraced.  And to be essential to our world, we must be willing to allow the body to stabilize and then, put voice and choice to reflect who we have become as a result of that moment of evolution.

My life – like yours – is a constantly evolving series of inter-connected moments.  What will shape my world… my ‘reality’…. is the degree to which I am willing to fully embrace and own each moment as it offers up its bounty to ensure I, in turn, offer up mine in the creation of my world.

My gratitude and deepest RIG to Deb Ozarko and Deb Gleason.  Without their courage – to live out loud in the presence of others – I would not have come to this peaceful place inside while, at the same time, embracing all that seems to be in such decay, outside.  And the truth of it?  The answer is always YES!

Breathing is good….