Chop Wood and Carry Water
Dear Ones,
During this time of great change, it can often feel like we are living in surreal times. It is as if reality isn't reality anymore; what we count on to anchor us, like our values, faith, beliefs, family, and democracy, feels foreign to us. We live amid conflicting stories as we see the world through our perceptions of events.
Our inner story determines this lens, the story we tell about our experiences. And if our attachment to the story carries feelings of powerlessness or empowerment, we can convince ourselves our story is correct and the other is wrong.
How we navigate during this time is crucial. Can we hold the other in love and compassion, even when their story is not ours? If we cannot, we often find ourselves in a place of judgment, reactivity, and intolerance, further creating separation, anger, and even outrage.
To navigate this chasm of differences, we must each unravel our attachments to pain and suffering or entitlement that keep us in unhealthy patterns of behavior, creating further trauma. Once we untangle our emotions and heal the wounded part of ourselves, we can see more clearly and respond more compassionately.
In the meantime, through the upheaval, I go domestic. What gives me substance is to ground in life, chop wood, and carry water. Baking bread helps me find my center. More recently, I have been working with sourdough bread. The sourdough starter must "be fed" regularly to keep it thriving.
I, too, need to be fed (metaphorically) to keep me thriving. The bread requires a bit of TLC if neglected, so I add extra rye flour to jumpstart the process. Through this act, I am amazed that the chemical reaction goes into overdrive, almost too much. Wow! Don't I, too, go into overdrive after an attempt at caretaking myself to make up for neglect? My being tries to integrate the onslaught of energy processing in my body, which sometimes causes stress to my body, mind, and spirit.
It is the same for sourdough; the extra TLC still works but leaves the bread a bit too bubbly and not as dense. These two loaves (a special treat this time with the addition of purple basil to one and cilantro to the other) are an example of the overdrive. They are still two incredibly beautiful and delicious loaves, but they show a pattern of neglect in the bread's density or matter. I will have to feed the sourdough starter more regularly, learning to see, feel, and sense the right flour and water ratio and all the other factors that go into creating a balanced loaf.
We are all like this bread, navigating many other factors that go into taking care of our body, mind, and spirit. We are each on a journey of recovery and discovery of parts of ourselves, learning how to navigate a continuously changing life through trial and error.
Time to get domestic be present to alchemy in motion!
Blessings for your Summer,
Carley and John