Good morning all. Up and down days. I had a brilliant 3 way WhatsApp call yesterday with other Scotland-based singing workshop leaders - we have set up a support group for each other as we have overnight lost not just our livelihood (running music groups and choirs) but also for many of us, the source of our aliveness, purpose, wellbeing - of course we are not alone. What was new and helpful for me was having an in-depth sharing with two others who are in a similar situation work-wise to myself. I realise this is really rare. One person has embraced the on-line alternative and described really admirable and inspiring sessions she has offered via Zoom, singing outdoors, recording tracks for her students to learn etc. Another person - nearer my own age - had become really clear that there was no way she was going to take on the on-line alternatives, for her, singing was about the physical connection, the vibration in the room and for her, this was a time to stop and to delve into her own creativity and also to rest and recuperate. Hearing these two opposite responses was very liberating for me - I think I am somewhere in between - and I also became aware of a part of me that grieves for the 'me that was' maybe 10 or even 5 years ago, who would have leapt into doing the on-line alternatives, arranging outdoor singing groups etc. In reality I have spent much of this week feeling exhausted just with the thought of trying to tackle new technologies, spending more time on line, So today I at least feel more freed up to do what I feel I am able and called to do, without feeling that one particular direction is the right one. Also I recognise the importance of 'kindness to oneself' in just being with the phase of feeling resentful, resistant, restless. Some days will be full of creativity and purpose, and other days will be letting it all wash over me and giving myself time and space to be with the rapid and profound change.
I wanted to share the words of Werner Erhart - the guiding light behind the Landmark Education worldwide movement for personal transformation. The term 'whats so' is used to refer to just the basic facts and reality of what is here and now. Here we go:
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Whatâs so is always just whatâs so. Whatâs so doesnât care what you think, feel, intend or wish; it will not bend. You can be freaked out or driven over whatâs so, and it wonât change whatâs so. If youâre late for an appointment, getting freaked out about it wonât have you arrive any earlier. If youâre having a bad day, being freaked out wonât change whatâs so. That which you seek will not bring you satisfaction â aligning with whatâs so will. When youâre upset, youâre never upset over whatâs so. Whatâs so is just whatâs so, and youâre upset.
If your house burns down and you get upset, does it bring your house back? Whatâs so doesnât care if youâre upset; itâs up to you how you handle whatâs so. There is no confusion in whatâs so. When you donât know you just donât know â there is no confusion there. Thereâs nothing right or wrong about whatâs so. Whatâs so is always open to different interpretations. Thereâs always just whatâs so, and then you have an interpretation. What scares you isnât whatâs so, itâs your interpretation. The interpretation is never true; whatâs so is real, the interpretation is not.
Who youâre being is just who youâre being, and whatâs so doesnât care if youâre happy with it or not, so why should you? When youâre not being with whatâs so, thatâs also just whatâs so. Why should you concern yourself? Other people should always be the way theyâre being; if you think they shouldnât, thatâs your interpretation. Bring yourself back to whatâs so about them. Until you can be with whatâs so, you canât be with anything or anyone. You may have control over other peopleâs whatâs so, but none over their interpretation â give it up.
If you take action or not, itâs still just whatâs so. If it works out well or not, itâs still just whatâs so. You can never make a right or wrong decision, or take a right or wrong action. Whatever you do will always bring you more of whatâs so, and then you have an interpretation about it. Whatever you donât have, so what? Whatever youâve done or thought in the past, again so what? Whatever happens in the future is not to be feared. Itâs just going to be more of whatâs so. The challenge is to spend as much time in whatâs so as you can. The chatter in your head is more interpretation, and it has nothing to do with whatâs so. Thereâs nothing wrong with the chatter, itâs just you listening to a fantasy.
The thought that there is something wrong is an illusion; there is nothing wrong, there is only whatâs so. Notice when youâre comparing whatâs so to some fantasy of how it should be. Bring yourself back to whatâs so and it will be O.K. Ask yourself whatâs so and align with that. Align with whatâs so and it will not matter. That is the foundation of transformation and satisfaction. Not aligning with whatâs so is the only thing that will ever bring you hardship or suffering. Life in whatâs so will bring you harmony, grace, and balance. Ask yourself â whatâs so about your situation?
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