Becoming Real
Vulnerability, Love, Humor, Shame-free, & Blame-free life living
In the process of figuring oneself out, it takes so much time & space to do so. I’ve been a 3 day almost silent retreat in the village & today is the first day I have been able to meditate for 3 hours. The sunrise & birds chirping gently reminds me that it’s time to wake up. I naturally get up, brush my teeth, and start my meditation routine by turning on one of my teachers guided meditation, set the timer for 45 minutes & begin. I must say, it took me quite some time to sit still or to sit at all. It doesn’t come naturally to any of us and to cultivate the habit of stillness takes a lot of muscle memory. As I find with anything in life, doing nothing also takes practice & dedication. Along with this “petite escapade” I started re-reading Daring Greatly by Brene Brown. There are so many inspiration points and lines to live by. But the part that strike me was how we can interact with each other as humans in relationships. We are all essential in relations with one another as much as we like to think our life in not affected by one another. Well almost all world religions say it is not and modern psychology also found our world is interacted rather we like it or not. Brene shared through her research on vulnerability that if she & her husband knew any better they would choose a life with more Vulnerability, Love, Humor, Respect, Shame-free fighting, & Blame-free life living instead of you the opposite of that. How can we live this kind of life? Firstly, mindfulness practice is my primary. Whenever I get lost in a habit of blame or shaming I always go to start observing the breath & body sensations. Secondly, try to keep my mind focused on what awakens my heart & brings me ease. Third, it takes time & space like I said before. There’s no perfect way of going about it but always giving yourself patience and encouragement along the way. Like today I was able to walk for 20 minutes alone breathing is good enough or sitting in front of my computer I close my eyes for a few deep breaths. Sometimes, turning off the old tapes in our minds like “hey, you are not doing this right” or “that’s not good enough” is all together enough. If are able to break down the shame internally then we will see outwardly how we contribute to the cycle of shame that prevents vulnerability to happen. We live in an imperfect world and even though we might have been around the block before. We can still pick up a few short cuts or tricks along the way. Living a wholehearted life is always about being in the present moment and changing toward what makes our hearts sing along the way.
Highly recommend reading or listening to Daring Greatly by Brene Brown https://www.amazon.com/Daring-Greatly-Courage-Vulnerable-Transforms/dp/1592408419
