listened.

Yesterday I listened to a little talk Glennon Doyle (author of Untamed, etc) did on IG and she spoke about the difference between our “idea” of how something should look and feel and then the “actual” of how it looks and feels.

Her example was Christmas/holidays and the ideal we are convinced we will experience (cue: glitter, snow falling, people laughing, toasty mugs of cocoa, warm lights, people loving their gifts, relaxing joyfully next to a fire, etc).

Christmas magic and then the actual - which may even have some of the elements we expected, but because it is real, will never be exactly like the ideal we were pitched. Then we are left with disappointment or worse.

I am not sure we have to give up on our excitement around certain moments, but our practice lies in remaining unattached to the outcome. Unattached to getting exactly what we want or getting what we don’t want. Unattached to our work equaling a certain outcome or even our efforts resulting in an exact effect.

I go back to one of my favorite quotes of all times by one of my favorite teachers, Rolf Gates, “show up, burn bright, let it go”. (This quote and so many other good ones can be found in Rolf’s book, Meditations from the Mat). As with most things I write about, this is something I am working on - to just do the work, to show up, burn brightly and then just let it go.

Trusting, knowing, believing it is all working for me - even when it feels like it isn’t. Glennon’s talk is worth listening to and Rolf’s words are worth reading and your inner voice is worth hearing :)

Big love,
Tammy