LIVING YOGICALLY: Broken Open
For those of you that follow you are well aware that my dad is a resourceful handyman. Like I said in a previous post he fixes everything with duct tape- even my broken bedroom window in the dead of winter, eight years ago. I mean there was no use fixing it properly because I was moving away to university in two years. I was pretty impressed because his duct tape masterpiece held my window together and shielded me from the horrific Canadian winter weather. My good friend Natalie Cleary questioned the contraption one night when she slept over but I assured her it was fine and to go to sleep.
Well dad sorry to say but there was ONE storm that was stronger than the duct tape. Unfortunately, it was the same night Cleary slept over. I remember waking up that morning freezing. I was still too tired to open my eyes so I assumed that Cleary just stole all the blankets, so I used the strength I had to pull all the blankets back to my side of the bed and wrap myself in them.
Fast forward half an hour and I began to feel a cold breeze on the back of my head. I rolled over to see where it was coming from and to my horror I found Cleary covered in a blanket- a blanket of white snow.
Oh my god Cleary! Are you okay? I thought to myself. She didn’t move and I was truly horrified. Did I just kill my good friend? How long was she frozen? I began to shake her cold body. She peacefully woke up and said, “Wow Nat it really is cold!â€
Pheewww she was alive! Cleary sat up, I dusted off the layer of snow that covered her body and we both burst into laughter.
Forget your perfect offering there is a crack in everything that is how the light gets in. -Leonard Cohen
There are cracks in everything- windows, butts, relationships, our life goals, etc. They are meant to be there so that light (or in the above example the snow) will get in. It was the experience of almost killing my friend that made me realize how much I loved her and how great of a friend Cleary was to just laugh at her close to death experience.
Adversity is a natural part of being human. It is the height of arrogance to prescribe a moral code or health regime or spiritual practice as an amulet to keep things from falling apart. Things do fall apart. It is in their nature to do so. When we try to protect ourselves from the inevitability of change, we are not listening to the soul. We are listening to our fear of life and death, our lack of faith, our smaller ego’s will to prevail. To listen to your soul is to stop fighting with life–to stop fighting when things fall apart; when they don’t go our away, when we get sick, when we are betrayed or mistreated or misunderstood. To listen to the soul is to slow down, to feel deeply, to see ourselves clearly, to surrender to discomfort and uncertainty and to wait. –Elizabeth Lesser
We have all experienced times in our lives when things have fallen apart. When did it happen to you last? How did you respond? Did you crumble? Or did you rise triumphantly like a phoenix from its ashes? Some great role models that have reborn anew from the ashes in their lives are Terry Fox, Lance Armstrong, Jan, Nikki, Shannon and Bret Michaels.
And so long as you haven’t experienced this: to die and so to grow, you are only a troubled guest on the dark earth. -Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Remember you are exactly where you are meant to be. All the goals in your life you have achieved were meant to be. All the loss you have experienced was meant to happen. Remember that loss is our greatest teacher. It is in those broken moments that we see the most light. So admire all the cracks. Don’t cover them up with duct tape- well unless you don’t want to see the light.
And the time came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. –Anais Nin
Peace, peace, peace
NAT
NEXT WEEK! I just don’t know maybe twitter… maybe another George story…no clue
i’m howling at the first pic you put up and even more so at the cleary story HAHAHAHAA!! i could totally picture her being such a smiley good sport about it too, amazing! miss you cleary! nand about the take home message, you’re so right, we need to embrace the crack. its meant to be there, we’re all learning from it. nlove the way your intro story always ties in so perfect to your thought provoking message at the end, you are such a talented writer nat!nps – fav quote of all time is the last one you listed by nin, i’ve had no choice but to live by it…. currently attempting to blossom:)
hahahaha…omg I am laughing out loud to this Nat…I’ve told this story so many times…your dad is the absolute best!!!! and Jess I miss you too girl xo. Somehow it seems like every week you write about something powerful that I need to hear at that time. I appreciate the reminder of how taking chances in life can cause us discomfort and fear; but we are meant to take chances and be exactly where we are at any given moment. Adversity WILL happen…it’s inevitable…but Victor Frankl said it best “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of the human freedoms; to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstance”…and I agree Jess…that quote by Nin is amazing.nLove you Nat xoxo
Nat,nI’m reading this at 12:52 on a school night, oh dear Lord! The point is I went to a Raptors game (and sat behind Mike Bullard, Canadian comic) tonight and it was the most fun I’ve had in a long time and well, your post made me smile that much more. You’re awesome, and thanks for doin’ what you do!nJessienAlso joinTtwitter. That is all, good day.