Inhabitation

I am working to live from peace--a peaceful mind, a peaceful spirit, peaceful words and actions. Part of that comes from my attachment to things, ideas, people...you get the picture, and how well I can let go of what I see as my 'investment' in a situation or context--my attachment.

Another element of living from peace is balance--remaining centered regardless of my environment, who I share the space with and the energy present. To cultivate a mindfulness of what my center looks like, feels like, so that when I veer I am better able to return.

Mindful living is not easy--it's not all detachment and absent-minded bliss. It's a hard, raw look at yourself, an honest evaluation of what, in you, is not in alignment with peace, balance, harmony, compassion, love, service.

Mindful living, pure presence, needs you to recognize your patterns, especially the destructive ones, in order to change your path, your flow through life.

You must pay attention.

You must show up and be present.

You must acknowledge.

You must confront your shadow...
...and embrace the light which is you--free. Free from attachment, centered and present.

I might not have chosen the easy road in life by walking this yogic line but I refuse to live a life of apathy. I want pure consciousness until my last breath escapes this vessel of flesh. I want to live into the corners, I want to illuminate shadows, I want to serve every possible human being that I can while I walk this earth--whether that service comes through my attention, compassion, actions or some combination of all.

I want to slough off the layers of emotional sediment that bind me to patterns that no longer serve me as they have been called forth by the light of consciousness and it is that consciousness that I want to fully inhabit.

We inhabit ourselves without valuing ourselves,
unable to see that here, now,
this very moment is sacred;
but once it's gone--
it's value is incontestable.
--Joyce Carol Oates