You are. We are.
You Are. ‘You are not a drop in the sea….you are the sea in a drop’ -- Rumi
We sat in a circle. I watched the softness of her face, reveal the big truth in the words, and I bowed my head slowly: grateful.
Like a typewriter I saw these words repeat over and again across my body, my heart. The way they informed what I could see, the way that I could see…that I could even see at all. That I could even see at all.
That was a few Sunday’s ago. As I sat in a circle with my yoga family. All 39 of us. I stared around in wonder. We came together in our first circle on Jan 24th. We came as men and women seeking.
We are.
We came as seekers. We came with our fears and our stories, we came with our victories and our love…we came to understand that our truth, that it may not be so. And we watched each other with kindness and fear, as we came up against those beliefs.
We Were.
When we were little…little hands, little belly’s, big imaginations. The taller people in our life they told us many things. Our belief systems born within the walls around us. And even when you move from the walls, even when you no longer look up, when you find that you cannot look someone in the eyes because you do not believe what they have told you…you continue to believe. Call it loyalty. Wash it in fear. Either way it takes a bright bright light and a community to say, ‘you know, you don’t have to believe that anymore’
We told.
Told the stories of what we had learned, and who we believed we were. Told them again and again. We looked each other right in the eyes…as practice for life. Kind, open, beautiful human beings. I remember she shared ‘I looked into their eyes, and I could see my silhouette there, and it’s all that I could see, that we were the same’
I tried this the very next moment, looked into her eyes, and there I was. And here we are. Of all the times I have looked someone in the eyes, friends, strangers, lovers…I never realized I was just right there too. And so though your pain, your hurt, the voice you abandoned, and the one you took on….though they are unique to you. It’s a burden we all know.
We learned.
From the gentle way it was offered. We learned to give up feeling that we should have done it better, that we fucked it up beyond repair. And a gentle way does not have to mean it’s sung in a lullaby, that there’s a hushed tone and a quiet room. No you see, because love is love, and sometimes the most powerful gift you can give to someone is to refuse to let someone out of the fire….
‘set your life on fire. seek those who fan your flames.’
because that’s what we do right. are escape artists for our own lives, and for those around us, it’s because we don’t want ourselves or others to feel pain, but perhaps that exactly what we must do. When we can stand, both for ourselves and for others. We offer ourselves as examples, the desire to live free, free from wishing we should have done it better/different/faster/more ______ xyz.
Come free. You did it the best you could. And so did they. Let go of your righteousness, and see that we are all the same. I dare you to look into eyes of any human being on the planet and see yourself there. The same.
We traveled.
We went to complete our experience this past weekend at the lake. It was challenging, beautiful, freeing, and painful all at once. I leave this experience with more wonder than ever before, about this life. My life and your life. I believe a beautiful life is the one that we choose. I commit to my life being beautiful, and yours too, if we can tell the truth, then we have begun.
Our life. We are.
On a journey for sure. On a path that’s not clear, and then it’s clear. Night will always become day, and the waves will always come back to the shore…as she shared these observations, as I sat there, still. It reminded me. No more fighting. There is a natural flow and order to everything. It’s called surrender, and it’s ultimate freedom.
Have you forgotten? You were born to be set free.
The best we can do, is surround ourselves with others who are willing to look us right in the eye, to be kind and loving, to not allow for anything that is not the truth to live through us. Through us. Through them. The same.
We.
All of us. My family. My extended family. One that now includes beautiful beings in Kenya, in Buffalo, Rochester, California, and everywhere I have ever gone, or walked. Sometimes it's easier for me to think I've been lucky, or that maybe I havent deserved all this, but I have sought exactly this, I am worth a beautiful life unfolding and oh, what a beautiful path I have traveled. Especially when I can truly believe I did the best I could at the time, but to never stop believing that there's a way to do it brighter, to inspire and be inspired. Be brave and just try.
YOU.are.
‘not a drop in the sea. You are the sea in a drop’
your enormity will frighten you, and then one day, it wont. You are the sea. You are that big. Everything you say and do, matters.
Choose your words and experiences wisely.
Tell the truth: no exceptions.
Find laughter and joy as much as you possibly can.
Stay connected.
Forgive yourself. Forgive others.
And never ever miss a moment to look someone right in the eyes to see that you within them, and they within you. This will set you free.
Thank you for all of those who make my life so amazing, yeah, I’m talking to you, ALL of you : ) thank you.
To my beautiful teachers on my path: I bow to you.
With all the love in my big giant heart.
-Lyndsey
(ps the Rumi quote I’ve seen as the ocean too…whatever calls to you people, it’s all good)