The big picture

Ever since I can remember I have been fascinated with the ‘big picture’. No matter what my circumstances, perspective or situation, it is always enlightening to imagine it from a distance. I tend to see how things fit together, how they operate, and ways to intervene, that I had never seen before. I remember a teacher, years ago, talking about the difference in perspective of a chicken, pecking around the barnyard, and an eagle soaring over the canyons and mountains. I try to see myself, my situation, or my world from a more expanded perspective and, invariably, it gives me both relief and insight.
I believe the relief gives our bodies, mind, and spirit a break. When we are so caught up in the minutia of everyday life, our senses are on overdrive, scanning the environment and our minds for what needs to happen next. What dangers lurk in the unknown just ahead? To a certain extent, this is how we are wired up. At a very fundamental level, we are in survival mode watching for cause to fight, flee, or freeze. This is a taxing stance to maintain moment after moment, day after day, year after year. By the simple act of looking upwards, our systems are literally given relief and a more optimistic perspective is accessible.
The insight inherent in a broader view provides a glimpse of what’s possible. I love the quote from R.D. Laing that says “The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice that we fail to notice, there is little we can do to change; until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds.” When we attain a more expansive mindset, that openness allows new ideas and opportunities to flow more easily to us. Through training ourselves to step back and look at our lives from a distance, we continue to evolve into better, bigger, more open beings – more like the eagle than the chicken. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

The Spirit of the Season

I am just now getting into the “spirit of the season” – whatever that means. I suppose it means different things for everyone. But for me, it’s about being a bigger person – more generous, compassionate, loving, and playful – than I feel I’ve been until now. The hope, I believe, is that I will stretch myself to eventually fit into that bigger self.
So each year, when the holiday season is upon us we can choose to be a Scrooge and stay small or to become like the Santa in Miracle on 34th Street (my all time favorite Christmas story!) Then, realizing how much better it feels to be kind and expansive we adopt a bit more of the new, improved person and carry it into the next year. As that becomes ‘old hat’ we are ready, once again for another upgrade. I wonder if it works that way. I hope so.
The “spirit of the season” has become a trite phrase, losing it’s potency along the way. But I think perhaps it’s an antidote for what we often seem to dislike about this time of year. When we are in touch with the spirit, we are not focused on the material, the commercial or the hectic. We know a truth that supersedes anything that goes on around us, we are impervious. And, what better time to become a brighter being than when the light is returning to the world?! How lovely!

It's only life!

What’s the big deal? It’s only life! I know this might sound harsh and uncaring to anyone going through some challenges right now. But fighting it, rather than relaxing into it – no matter what it is – won’t allow it to keep moving on.
This morning I found myself feeling tense about something that is so insignificant I am too embarrassed to tell you. And it really doesn’t matter anyway (really!) because it’s history – done –past – nothing-I-can-do-about-it gone. So why would I hold on to it, feeling what it is doing to my body, not to mention my mind – both of which I am very attached to?
Wellness begins, I believe, with letting go of each moment. When you look around at this very moment in time you are probably safe, secure, fed and clothed. There is no one out there trying to get you – it’s just that sneaky little devil in your head!