A couple of years ago, one of my New Years resolutions was to start meditating. Even back then, everyone seemed to be talking about the amazingly restorative powers of meditation. But how was I going to accomplish this? The first quarter is a very heavy travel season for me at work. Almost immediately after the Christmas holidays end, I am off on my first long haul flight of the year.
I found a resource through the Tim Ferris podcast. Her name is Tara Brach. I love the timber of her voice. I was calmed by her guided meditation and felt good when I was finished. I could easily commit to a 20 minute session from my hotel room. That is the only upside of travelling alone. No extra responsibilities.
Early on in my practice, one of Tara’s meditations used the following passage from Rumi. I liked this so much, I wrote it out from the podcast audio. (I didn’t realize I could just google a few of the lines and have the poem instantly).
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase each other doesn’t make any sense. – Rumi, Sufi poet
What I learned today, from a review of Tara Brach’s book called, “Radical Acceptance“, was very interesting. She writes, (in part):
“My guiding assumption was ‘Something is fundamentally wrong with me,’ and I struggled to control and fix what felt like a basically flawed self. I drove myself in academics, was a fervent political activist and devoted myself to a very full social life. I avoided pain (and created more) with an addiction to food and a preoccupation with achievement.”
The reason I find this so interesting is that for many years, I have had a similar guiding assumption about myself. Though, I never took the time to stop and think too much about it. I also didn’t connect the dots. My issue with eating too much of the wrong kind of food was one thing. Driving myself professionally at a very high level was another. Sacrifices I was willing to make for my job, another thing again. They were all separate and unique line items. I listed these things rather than connecting them.
Well maybe I would have come to this analysis sooner than today if I had kept up my meditation practice. Sadly I dropped it because I felt it was too much extra time on top of the 30 minutes I had set aside for training. Hmmm, that reasoning seems so weak as I write it now.
Anyway, join me – out beyond ideas of rightdoing and wrongdoing. I’ve published an e-book called, “Fruitless at 40: Rediscovering My Creative Power“.
If you have not expressed your voice on the subject of creativity, I would love to hear your thoughts in my survey.
I am always interested to hear your thoughts, either here in the comments or Christine@dailycreatives.com
Happy Creating!
The Good Life List 