Thanks and Gratitude
First of all, I just want to say thank you for the outpouring of support in response to what I shared earlier in the week. I really appreciate it, and I am very grateful. I do realize that there are so many out there that have supported and lifted me up throughout the years, and I know that I have indeed had an impact or others. Everyday during my gratitude practice, I express my gratitude for that support to the universe. It’s just too easy to get overwhelmed with negative thoughts and frustration. So thank you all for the reminders of all the ways that I have impacted others. I appreciate the love and support.
I do want things to change. As I mentioned, I want to offer that same love and support to others, and so I am trying to be more intentional in sharing not just my thoughts, my art, my stuff, but also the things that I find intriguing and the people that inspire and motivate me. So, I’m going to see if I can start sharing more deeply at least once a week through the newsletter and through the blog. I want this to be a regular practice, and I hope that you’ll join me for this journey.
Be Here Now
With that recent feeling of overwhelm, frustration, and spinning, negative self talk, I can’t help think about Eckhart Tolle and his teachings on being present. You may be familiar with him through his first book The Power of Now, but it’s his second book, A New Earth that I feel most connected to. I reread it every couple of years, and I am rereading it now.
If you’re not familiar with Tolle, his books, or his teachings, he talks about how we are often at the mercy of the ego and don’t focus on the present moment. We preoccupy ourselves with what has happened in the past and with what we want to happen in the future. He explains that because of the ego, we have built up a false sense of self and identity, and we often spin ourselves with negative thoughts. We feel anger, stress, worry, fear, and so much more because we are so wrapped up in ego and this false identity. Unfortunately, I’m not explaining it too well. But his ideas align with much if what I’ve learned from Buddhism and the Dalai Lama—we create our own suffering through attachment to the past (something that we cannot change) and to the future (something that has yet to be). We only have this moment—the present moment.
I definitely lost sight of that when those thoughts of mine swirled out of control. I let ego get the best of me as I focused on the negativity. In that moment, I couldn’t accept the way things were and got caught up in a cycle of frustration, anger, and negativity. But, I am here now, and this is how things are. Yes, I want them to be different, but ranting and raving about it all and wishing things were different isn’t going to make things change. I have the power to change them, and this is the first step. Being in the midst of rereading Eckhart Tolle’s words is a reminder of that.
New Online Workshops
One quick note to say that I’ve just released a series of five new online workshops for the fall and early winter. Each one will be online through Zoom, and I invite you to join me. You can find all of my online workshops, past and present here.