Yesterday's blog mentioned the woman writer and thinker Byron Katie. My friend Winnie wrote this statement about the post:
Ziegler's cartoon is hilarious! About 20 years ago I, along with about 12 other women, spent a weekend with Byron Katie and "The Work". It was before she became so well known for her approach to what I'd call life! She seemed ageless at that time and between her unique "self" and perspective, I'm not at all surprised that she is finding aging so fascinating. More importantly, her very simple and memorable focus/message on that weekend is something that stayed with me. It was basically this.... Things happen.....all kinds of things that we label with adjectives and feelings. Instead (and this is the message that stuck) consider all of these experiences using the metaphor of the wind blowing at a tree. Sometimes there's a light breeze and other times strong winds with everything in between. We can't see it, but can describe the impact as it passes through. She emphasized that we can let our life experiences and feelings pass through us in the same way. Sometimes a leaf flutters and other times the tree bends from strong gales, but it still stands and continues on if the roots are deep and strong! I love this way of thinking and feeling about life. You are right about staying with the experience. She would say don't linger too long even when horrific things happen to us and others. Everything happens and dwelling too long is not letting it pass through. Winnie |
