“Learning how to be still, to really be still and let life happen – that stillness becomes a radiance.” – Morgan Freeman
“In the stillness of your presence, you can feel your own formless and timeless reality as the unmanifested life that animates your physical form. You can then feel the same life deep within every other human and every other creature. You look beyond the veil of form and separation. This is the realization of oneness. This is love.” – Eckhart Tolle
Earlier this week, I sent out what I thought would be my last newsletter for this year, and then two things happened yesterday that had me feel compelled to write to you all…
First, I had a conversation with a client yesterday where she shared with me the awakening and transformation she had experienced over the past two years. As a professional who takes her work very seriously, she used to be very focused on building her career and her professional brand. Then she burnt out, completed a PhD, and had a baby, and now, two years later, she is a different person. All these experiences have made her slow down, take stock, rethink her life, and become really present to her life. She shared that she used to feel like she was just completing tasks in her life, without really being IN her life. And now she is starting to realise the gift of slowing down and being fully present in her life and with her child.
These experiences happened for her to support her in awakening to a deeper truth in her life – that there was more available to her than mere career success. She is not the same person she was two years ago. She has expanded her experience of herself and who she believes she is. From the painful experiences she had walked through, was birthed this person with more depth, more loving, more patience, more presence, more gratitude, and more joy.
The second thing that happened yesterday, is that I attended a Quarrtsiluni session with a colleague who was generous enough to invite me to his event. Quarrtsiluni is the Inuit word for “sitting together in the darkness, quietly, waiting for something creative or important to occur.” And that is sort of what we did. A group of people came together to listen to poetry and music and to discover how each of us were interpreting what we were hearing, and what feelings, images, and insights the poetry and music provoked inside of us. I was blown away by just how much can come out of something as simple as listening to a poem, and allowing an open space to share whatever was coming up for you. I was also blown away by how we can create a sense of connection and community by allowing this space to unfold without judgment.
So, dear reader, I want to invite you this festive season – wherever you are, whatever this time of year looks like for you – can you open yourself up to stillness, gratitude, love, and magic? Will you allow yourself some rest? Will you allow yourself some stillness? Are you willing to sit in the darkness and wait quietly for something creative, magical, or important to occur?
So often as we wrap up another year, it’s all too easy to get caught up in end-of-year work deadlines, chaotic travel schedules, a whirlwind of parties, or last-minute shopping. It’s so easy to forget to slow down, and notice. It’s so easy to turn things that are meant to bring us joy into chores and things to simply “get through”. Will you give yourself permission to slow down to the speed of life so you can notice…? Notice the smile on someone’s face, or the sadness on another’s face. Notice the laughter of children, or the chill of the wind as you step outside. Notice the twinkling of Xmas lights at night, and the smell of hot coffee or hot chocolate. Notice the aroma of food coming from the kitchen. Notice the time and care someone took to pick out a gift and wrap it for you. Notice how much beauty there is right in front of you.
And if you are alone, and this time of year brings you pain, notice how your heart is still beating, and you are still alive. Notice how Life is holding you, even in the darkness. Notice how when you slow down to THIS moment right here, it’s easier to breathe, and perhaps to notice stars, snowflakes, rain drops, or sunsets.
Also, when your friends and family reach out to you during the holidays, showering you with presents or performing acts of kindness, make sure to go out of your way to express your gratitude. Be sure to not take them or the magic of this time for granted. Be sure to notice that you are loved. And a simple acknowledgement goes a long way in connecting deeply with someone. All of us are longing to feel seen and heard. All of us are longing for acknowledgment.
In the spirit of this sentiment, I want to acknowledge each and every one of you. Thank you for being here and for being YOU. Thank you for showing up and being real. Thank you for your courage, openness, and willingness to grow and learn. Thank you for not giving up on YOU.
Before we completed our conversation yesterday, I reminded my client that she gets to create herself and live into what she wants to experience during the festive season. For her, what she wants most is presence and joy. I invite each of you to choose what you would like to experience during the last few days of 2023, and then go BE that. For me, it’s always loving presence, and during this time I will be adding joy and gratitude.
I will leave you with the poem we read at the Quarrtsiluni session yesterday:
The Peace of Wild Things
Written and read by Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.