Being and other Thoughts on Labor Day
my baby feet on the sands of the Oregon Coast, august 2008
The start of the new year is an incredibly creative time for me. I love new beginnings and saying out loud everything I hope for the new year to come. The chill of the tower and the coziness of my studio overlooking the yard always inspire me to tell whatever truth is hibernating in my wide open heart.
This year January was incredibly chaotic and contentious for me. I barely made it to the studio and all month long all I watched the most creative time of the year get sucked into a sea of family crisis and upset. I muddled through the best I could–not really succeeding in any of my most important relationships or arenas–and came into February worn out and more than a little defeated.
Only one task managed to make it off my to-do list: the choosing of a theme for the year. I couldn’t narrow it down to one word, opting instead for a fuzzy combination of two. My words were “claiming” and “leadership”. I had no idea what they meant exactly, I just had this deep down feeling that this was my year to take what was mine and to move forward in ways that brought change and direction for the people around me.
Now, nine months later, I feel like those words were the perfect parents for the word that encapsulates them both. That word is “being” and it’s been the true theme of 2008, even as I continue to wrap my mind around it. I thought going into this year that “claiming” and “leadership” involved some kind of doing that was necessary in my life (and indeed that has been part of it). But the greatest lesson by far has been how much power comes when I have had the courage to be.
Being takes a certain kind of stillness. A certain kind of listening. A certain kind of confidence to let things unfold. A certain kind of trust. It’s hard to explain and it can sound crazy if you’re too careful trying to get it right. But it is powerful and perhaps the only way to see the truth of your life shine through. It is for certain the most powerful contribution you make to the people around you, if you have the courage to stop hiding and let yourself be seen for who you truly are.
I’m still working on that last one, and I’ll know I’m getting somewhere when I decide to put an end to all my effort. In the end, it’s breathing that is my only work on this earth and I’m learning that when I can be brave enough for just that, everything works out just fine.
Thoughts, anyone? Feel free to air your objections or whatever little gremlin voices come up when you consider “just” being in the comments below.
this post is in honor of myriam joseph whose willingness to “be” with me today changed everything
September 1st, 2008 at 1:18 pm
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September 1st, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Jen I cannot answer the “just being” thought I continue to be challenged to do that. I crave just being though…in my quiet garden is the the pace that pops to mind…I’m grateful for it.
(I decided to leave the typo as it seemed not to be one one PACE was supposed to be PLACE)
September 1st, 2008 at 2:06 pm
What a lovely way to be reminded of my old habit of setting a yearly theme at work. Since I’m left the office environment, I’ve let that habit go.
Thanks to your inspiration, however, I am making Labor Day the start of my new year. This year’s theme? Be Still.
September 1st, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Being, that’s a hard one… I often find that just “being” inexplicably turns into just “doing”, before I have even realised it… beautiful thoughts
September 1st, 2008 at 2:36 pm
being…lots of people say it and claim it, but are not doing it. It has become a practice for me to meditate and be. Not always easy to quiet all the thoughts going on in my head, but I don’t push them away anymore. I accept them, allow them and they pass. It is part of being for me to acknowledge all that is a part of who I am. As a result, I am closer to being exactly who I am suppose to be. And, quite frankly, that is alright with me.
September 1st, 2008 at 2:37 pm
*just being* is alot less energy-consuming than *doing* … for me anyway (though I have to remind myself to remember that).
September sounds like a GREAT time to start a new “year” !!
September 1st, 2008 at 4:26 pm
To just be, to listen, to understand.
Then to act upon what one has been, heard, and understood.
To cease striving and know.
To do these things, even in snatches of time, is life-altering, life-affirming, and life-building.
And oh so challenging.
Thanks for reminding us of the essentials we need for this journey: trust, faith, patience, letting go of getting it right, quietness of spirit - and breathing.
September 1st, 2008 at 6:09 pm
sometimes being is such a wrestle…sometimes it takes till i completly wear myself out and take a force nap like a three year old just all tacked out that i get there : )
September 1st, 2008 at 6:20 pm
“Being” to me, doesn’t imply “just being” or doing nothing. Just the opposite, actually. “Being” who you are meant to be, staying true to what’s in your soul, becoming the person you were born to be, living authentically… all take work, the kind of work it sounds like you, Jen, have been engaged in lately. It’s tough going, but worth it.
September 1st, 2008 at 7:38 pm
No comments of wisdom, just understanding. I too have taken on leadership, which I have learned from some amazing teachers takes the ability to “be” rather than, act quickly, react without consideration, thinking within the box and other types of behavior.
September 2nd, 2008 at 1:02 am
I’ve spent a great deal of time in my life as a mother doing. I’ve been realizing lately that I need to just be with my kids. I’ve never been able to just be. Thanks for the reminder.
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:29 am
Beautiful post..and these words resonated particularly with me.. “if you have the courage to stop hiding and let yourself be seen for who you truly are”. My word for the year has been “reveal” and your sentence more or less sums it up.
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:50 am
I hear “but you are not enough” to which I reply “Yes I am” and work on believing it. It’s going quite well, I must say.
September 2nd, 2008 at 11:22 am
If what I do could be said to be worship, then I worship at the altar of “just.” Just smiling now.
September 2nd, 2008 at 11:54 am
I am in this place of just being, too.
It’s still a lot of hard work, though. I never thought it would be such hard work. Maybe someday I will get into the place where just being is just ease. I am not there yet.
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:23 pm
I’m seeing some fruit blossoms on this tree I planted years and years ago. The tree of just. The tree of being. This flesh of this fruit gives easily, the juice is generous and sweet. How lovely it is, just to sit here, in the shade.
You inspire me.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Hi I found you by way of Blogher. Great site you have and you express yourself so well. Hmmm ‘Being’ to me is ‘this moment’ and doing with it the best that I can. But more importantly remembering to do so.
Thanks for sharing and love the photo.
Ellen
September 3rd, 2008 at 8:08 am
I love the expression that says we are often “human doings”, not “human beings”. We start off as beings and we quickly turn into doings. It takes a lot of awareness to turn back to “being”.
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:10 pm
My ‘being’ these days is taking the form of silence. Less words. More breath. Keeping my mouth shut but my ears, eyes and heart open. Fewer answers. More questions, but just allowing them to pass on through. Holding on to my energy. Peace in the moment.
“Unless you can improve upon the silence, do not speak.”
~Quaker saying
September 3rd, 2008 at 10:22 pm
“Being takes a certain kind of stillness. A certain kind of listening. A certain kind of confidence to let things unfold. A certain kind of trust. It’s hard to explain and it can sound crazy if you’re too careful trying to get it right. But it is powerful and perhaps the only way to see the truth of your life shine through. It is for certain the most powerful contribution you make to the people around you, if you have the courage to stop hiding and let yourself be seen for who you truly are.”
Thank you for reminding me.
September 4th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
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