The world is heavy right now.
I’m overwhelmed.
And I’ve got to just sit with it. I took a vow not to push such feelings down. I vowed to not run away, or assume I understand a situation, or think I might have the answer, or believe that my opinion on any thing is right (or wrong).
It’s never comfortable. It’s the hardest work I’ve ever done.
It’s the hardest work I continue to do.
I vowed to not-know.
I vowed to maintain not-knowing.
This is why the work of meditation is so powerful, so profound: it asks us to not-know. It asks us to stay in not-knowing. It flies directly in the face of a culture whose value system is based in what we think we know.
I learned the hard way that the real work is not to solve, but to listen. The work is to sit with reality. The work is to not look away. The work is to stay with uncomfortable things.
If you need help with staying with uncomfortable things, I hold a free live meditation class every Friday at 11:45am EST. Click in 11:40am Fridays. Before you click, though, nail the basics with this free foundational tutorial.
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If you’re reading this, you can breathe right now. Do not squander that privilege. Recognize it. Notice it. Sit with that. Stay with that.
If you feel overwhelmed or angered by the enormity of things, by the seeming impossibility of it all (from George Floyd, to COVID, to deep political divides, to the economy), it’s your job to sit with the overwhelm. It’s your job to sit with the anger. With the uncertainty. Or the hatred. And you must stay with it. Do not try to fix it, solve it, or analyze it.
Just breathe with it.
If, like me, you’re white, you also have an immense privilege of not having your breath threatened when you go for a walk, hold a candy bar, or get a flat tire. I will never be able to imagine what a constant, overwhelming pressure on one’s life that is.
I must sit with that.
The work is to look at yourself, at life, at the world, as it is.
The work it to listen. The work is to stay.
From there, with time, in the quiet of your still, silent breath, right action will arise by itself.
The work starts with yourself. It can only start there. Practice sitting and staying with yourself as you are. Keep your eyes open.* Don’t close yourself off.
Again, if you need help doing this: I have a free live class every Friday at 11:45am EST. I’ve also started uploading past classes to my new youtube channel. They’re free, use them as you need.
I also do private coaching and corporate training. If you think this work could benefit your workplace (I call it Performance Coaching or Mental Resilience training, depending on the needs of staff), or if you want to seriously build, or significantly deepen, a personal practice, email me at info@north-scale.com
Do sit strong. Do breathe. Do pay attention.
With gratitude,
-kirstin
*I teach meditation with eyes open, which comes from my Zen training. Eyes-open meditation is one of the hallmarks that distinguishes Zen from other forms of Buddhism. While different than most forms of meditation, and a bit harder, it gives you a formidable skill to sit and be with reality as it is: the ability to look at life and not run away or think you know.
That’s real power. That’s real compassion.
**This article was originally written for and sent to my mailing list on June 3, 2020. It was published publicly after much positive feedback and encouragement to publish. If you’d like to join my mailing list, sign up at the bottom of this page.