Stand up and sing it loud

Sometimes we aren't truthful for fear of offending anothers sensibilities.  -Or we hold back because we are worried of what others will think.  We make up a story because it hurts too much to have to be honest.  Our mother told us to be polite; our grandmother told us it's not ladylike, or gentleman-like.   -Or it takes courage, wisdom, capacity, acceptance, intimacy, honesty we don't think we have.  Maybe it takes a voice we don't think we have, or two legs we forgot how to stand on.  Maybe fake-it-til-you-make-it was the mantra handed down to you.

There are so many times when I've chosen to not be truthful, for any combination of the above reasons.  Choosing not to speak up when that manager sexually harassed me.  Playing the yes[wo]man because I was in shock, survival mode, and it was just easier to play the tune of those who were speaking my truth for me, instead of with me--or even better, listening to me tell mine.  The times I was embarrassed, and made something up.  The times it felt too messy, and for some reason, I thought truth had to be neat and tidy and sweep-able...  For under the rug, of course.

Well, lately I've been into speaking truthfully, kindly, mindfully, to make up for all those lost truths.  I speak up because it's not only taking responsibility for mySelf, but it's my duty for my children; for the mending of my family's broken pieces and it's awesome continued thriving; for my ancestors to whom I owe it for honoring and healing.  I want future generations to be able to open their eyes, rather than wince in the light of truth.

Here's the thing, what would happen if we DID tell it like it is?  What if we found our breath before the wind knocked us out of our sails, before we decided to wait until later, later when we never did anything about that thing we never stood up for?  What if we bared our soul and became the soft animal of vulnerability?  What would happen?

We can hold space for the pain if we have made a container of joy.  We can speak boldy if we can listen tenderly.  We can stand tall for ourselves, if we look to see that we are not standing on others.  We can love, if we've confronted that which we hate.  We can share when we know how to receive.  We can go into the dark, if we know how to hold the lantern high.

And if we do, we'll have more valuable connection.  We will help to evolve kindness, compassion, acceptance.  We will free ourselves from thinking within our own box of truth by sharing and connecting, speaking and listening to others share their truths.  We will witness and bear witness to one another, perpetuating understanding.

It is when I look for that kernel of Truth inside of me, I realize I need not look outside or to anyone else.  I speak up from that rumbling place in my belly, or that racing heart, or that stuck lump in my throat, or those glassy tears, or that I-can't-stop-smiling draw on the lips.  It comes up and out of me, a sliver of my experience, and the only reason I might look outside of myself, is simply to be inspired and in awe of the rest of the world who holds me, and who I hold.

This message, especially, goes out to my sisters who wonder or have forgotten if they have something important to say.   Go on, you know you do.  We all do.  Speak up!  The children need you to.  Your partners, family, place-of-work, humankind, the next evolution needs it.

Walking with the Self and Great Compassion

Once upon a time, I skipped along a beautiful path with wildflowers and possibility growing up along the edge, and popping up through the cracks of life's hard stones.  I felt contented and at ease.  Well, then, like every exciting path, disrupting my lovely canter, stopping me dead on my tracks I nearly tripped on a lazy poppy of potential--there it was.  A glaring and menacing obstacle.  And, of all things, do you know what is was?  

It was me.  I was perplexed, upset, horrified, scared, discouraged, disappointed, defeated, angry that this obstacle-me, was in the way.  I was full of missteps. I came up with everything possible to discard, forget, toss to the side, yell and point fingers at, run away, walk around me.  Nothing worked.

Finally I decided I would just have to carry me with me.  And it worked!  Me was great company. Me was inspiring and creative.  Me had a great inner compass to help guide I further along.  Me was funny.  Me was fun.  Me could dance and sing.  Me was smarter, more compassionate, and more reliable than I had ever imagined.  I began to understand me and why me was in my own way.  I actually loved me! 

Wow, what a relief that my own obstacle was something I could carry with me in the end.  And to think I might be able to do the same with others now that I had confronted and then comforted me.


In yoga, we are taught to recognize ourSelves in others.  In Chapter 6, verse 9, the Bhagvagita (yogic text of self-realization), even encourages one to be at peace with all and to treat everyone equanimously.  Even the one who has engaged in wrong-action should have your compassion.  As illustrated in the same chapter later in verse 29, we are not separate from those who we think are separate than us.  Consciousness pervades all beings.  The realized self is part of all other entities.  All other entities are a part of our realized self.

All versions of who we perceive ourSelves to be should be recognized as well.  We should give ourSelves our own love and compassion, recognizing of what it is we are capable, and that whether we act upon any given capability, does not solely make up who we are.

I find this helpful when trying to cope with the mistakes, the ineptitude, transgressions I see in myself, and I see in the world.  There is a deeper karma, a cycle that is part of the ancestral lineage of humankind which is hard to see when we need something immediate to blame for our pain, and regressions of humanity. 

If we can seek to better understand ourSelves, and we are willing to carry all parts of ourSelves-even the weight, pain, and struggle; and BECAUSE of our potential, compassion, desire to connect to the Highest, we pave the way for our understanding of others. 

This is the path I want to walk on.  How about you?  Are you choosing to show up for yourself lately?  How about for others?