K,

Its good to hear that you’re waking up to the drawbacks of over indulging in being entertained by the dreams of others! It can be a little disorienting at first, and feels almost like a crisis… “Who am I? How do I find my path to joy?”

Most people don’t believe how simple it is, and make life far more complex than it has to be. It really distills into a simple aim, in my opinion . Live from the heart with the courage to jump. That’s it. The rest you learn on the path.

The way I see that statement moving from philosophy into a practical direction is the way we engage with our decisions. For instance, you wake up, perhaps do some meditation for stable mindedness, and open to the day. Then, where you go, whatever situations you’re in, look as deeply as you can at the possibilities, and when an inspiration to say or do something arises, take a breath and dive in.

What happens in my experience is that the actions which bring suffering to our mind and body fade away with time, as the heart becomes more wise. For instance, if you see huge plate full of cookies, even if there is curiosity in the mind what it might be like to eat a whole mess of cookies, the heart will say “nah, unneeded”. So, we take courage that our heart is right, and we jump away from the cookie as a source of nourishment. Or, if it hasn’t learned the lesson, we eat it and feel the pain of over indulgence. Then next time we see the plate, it is simple to turn away.

Or, if the thing we’re seeing is something or heart wants to do, the thing will sparkle… such as catching a glimpse of a guitar at a garage sale you happened to see when your heart said “how about a walk?”. On and on it leads us from lesson to lesson, and we find joy and wisdom.

One thing that can help keep the heartsong alight is by looking for ways to help other people. One of my teachers said that generosity is the energy of joy, so as we act kindly and generously to people (including ourselves through self nurturing) the heart gains strength and becomes louder for us.

Its a magic journey, and even though there is some pain as we encounter attachments, such as hopes we have that were unfulfilled in the past or don’t bloom in the future. But what does bloom is beautiful, and the fragrance of compassion uplifts the heart.

With warmth,
Matt

Hello Kristy,

How wonderful that you want to get to know you.

Your disillusionment with television comes as no surprise to me. Every single of one of us who has woken up to the knowledge that what we are told and expected to believe has meaning in life, is really meaningless. I have found it doesn’t matter that you are not sure what is meaningful, because as you get to know yourself, you discover what it is you love and what you want to do.

For me, a whole new creative side to me came out – it seems as though all I had to do was think “Oh I would love to be able to make a flower arrangement, painting or pair of earrings like that…Then, when I tried to do it, I discovered I could do it…who knew I had these talents!

I have found that everything begins with a thought, an idea, and is created or flows from that, so I would encourage you to just look around and see what you love, what you admire and what you find interesting and see what happens…

Love and peace,

Marilyn

K,

Thank you for the kind words about my writing. I think the reason I come across as clear minded is a mix of meditation, fantastic teachers, and taking my own advice. 🙂 As far as the beauty in the words, it wouldn’t feel right to try to own them. I breathe in a post, and breathe out whatever comes to heart. My hope and wish is it helps spark love and peace in whomever reads them, but I do my best to stay out of the way and just let whatever seems right to be said.

You seem to be very intuitive, and I appreciate the “pausing to reflect” quality, and agree. It reminds me of the hermit, who travels into the cave to protect the tender shoots of her blooming awareness. Its very self nurturing to pause to aim! Especially as we begin, and are still strengthening our mind/body connection. However, we are always deciding, and “big arcs” are certainly worth consideration as you describe. I meant more “breath by breath, what now” type jumping boldly from within.

Don’t forget to integrate the “ah ha” moments into a direction. Sometimes we can become addicted to insight, and seek deeper wisdom for the brightness of the revelation. Said differently, as we distill the patterns of reality we can become drunk with joy, which then quickly fades. Reinvest the joy into momentum, and spiritual development happens! 🙂

Finally, consider that perhaps there isn’t a solid “Kristy” in there to discover. We’re a mix of constantly changing and growing preferences, desires, skills, thoughts. Kristy is a blank canvas, which is constantly renewed. So as Doc Brown said “Your future hasn’t been written yet. No one’s has. Your future is whatever you make it. So make it a good one.” Namaste.

With warmth,
Matt