The Art of Becoming
Just the way oysters make pearls… it takes time. I have been feeling a lack of time. Does one lack time? I think not. It’s an illusion. Yet, time speeds by, things don’t get accomplished, and I am disappointed. They Roared for example was due out months ago. It is still not quite ready for print. We are in the final editing process, which is slow, slow, slow. Unbelievable and uncontrollable technical issues have brought us to our knees several times. It has been a journey. Time. Patience. Tenacity, and belief that it will happen. This has been very difficult for me as I am obsessively focused when I want some time accomplished and not at all patient. All focus and little patience have made this an arduous journey, yet I am continuing and feeling positive. It will happen when it is time, like the pearl. Soon though, I hope. They Persisted, the second edition is complete and available on Amazon, and will be at Maria’s, the Zu, and the Bakery after the 15th sometime! At least that is complete.
Corina Luna Dea is always an inspiration and when I read this last week, it spoke to me and I knew I wanted to share it with you today. In my life, it felt like such a metaphor.
THE ART OF BECOMING
As we weave our stories together, we become. Our personal stories mesh with our communal stories in a way that we are reassured that we become what we are meant to be. That we are not alone. That we matter and that the suffering of one becomes the suffering of all if we expand our capacity to put ourselves in other people's circumstances.
We go deep into the cave of remembering and we excavate the meaning of "becoming". We ponder upon becoming and allow its wisdom to speak to us. A paradox comes to the surface as we become aware of the tension we feel between "being" and "becoming". To become never happens on its own. It never happens in a vacuum. It never happens by staying home alone. Becoming is a process defined by change occurring against a point of reference that is pushing us to pay attention to our inner world.
Because change and transformation, becoming only occurs when we allow ourselves to be challenged by the environment and by the people around us. To change and grow we need mirrors. All kind of mirrors. Worthy mirrors. And some not so worthy. Without mirrors all around us we don't have the opportunity to put in practice what we learn. We need other people's energy to sense where we are inside. We need others to become, to grow, to evolve.
Just the way oysters make pearls in response to an irritant, such as a grain of sand or another object, so do people need the constant reflection or shadow of other humans to become aware of their values and choices in life. Some on the spiritual path take the path of asceticism to maintain their positive energy. Because, yes... It is easier to live away from other people's demands, needs or pains. It is easier not to be triggered by disappointment and other people's disapproval. Buddha tried the path of the ascetic and concluded that it is not a path that leads to enlightenment.
To become what you are meant to be takes courage. There is shedding of the old. There is deconstruction of what was once true. And there is a reconstruction process the proceeds what is yet to come. To be putting yourself out there every day and be exposed to greed, suffering, inequality, unfairness and even loneliness takes courage. It takes courage to witness the state of the world and allow yourself to be touched by other people's suffering. It takes courage to be vulnerable and allow friction to raise to the surface. Because no human being is an island. No human being is created in a vacuum.
We become responsible for each other. We feel for each other and embrace our inter-dependence. We are inter-being. Inter-becoming. Feeling with and for each other helps us to open to see ourselves as part of a greater collective. It helps us realize that we are not an island. None of us is. And none of us can become aware or evolve by living a hermit life.
To become is an art. An ongoing process of attaching and detaching, of being and becoming. Shedding old skin when it becomes too tight to engulf the mighty soul. If we pay attention, we can see the old self breaking free from antiquated beliefs and becoming what she was always meant to be. Whole, healed, happy and fulfilled. The holly becoming cannot be avoided once you walk the path of remembering. There is no going back to what was once there.
Just like a painter, our daily lives are created as we live our lives. We never know exactly where our steps will take us, but we believe that our becoming is always guided by an intelligence we don't always understand, but we fully trust for guidance as we up level our Becoming.
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Essay by Corina Luna Dea