Self-reflection: Proximity

The third pillar is closeness/ proximity. Everything is connected – in the ying yang picture the light is in the potentially dark and the dark is in the light.

To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour.

William Blake

As a person being connected gives closeness and proximity. Being close and connected gives meaning to one’s life, which in turn gives the feeling of completion.

So what is important in life?

 A few things:

Touching, both physically and mentally, makes us feel good.

Winnie the Pooh says to Piglet: “I think we dream so we don’t have to be apart for so long. If we’re in each other’s dreams, we can be together all the time.” 

Presence – in the moment, in everything we do.

Participation – in our own lives, the lives of friends and family, in all things happening around us.

Sympathy – feeling sympathy for other human beings and all living creatures.

We live in a small world. Not a leaf falls that doesn’t affect a myriad of things. When we reach out to someone in love and the effect is made – everyone, everything, which comes in contact with the person we’ve affected, is better for it. Of course, the converse is true, too.

Self-confirmation – all the above elements are interconnected. Touching and feeling touched, being present, participating, feeling sympathy, all these help your own being – your core – to live fully and feel fulfilled.

Love – to love and to feel loved is what is important in life. But it is a journey to feel whole, to love yourself the way you are. Only then you are ready to give love and receive love.

Leo Buscaglia, the author of the book Living, Loving, Learning gave an interview before he died talking about love. He said that a life of love is one of continual growth, where the doors and windows of experience are always open to the wonder and magic that life offers. To love is to risk living fully.

He also says that the essence of love is getting out of oneself and into others. When we care less about our feelings, our rights, our happiness, our security, etc., and begin to concern ourselves with the feelings, rights, happiness, and security of others, we will have found the true power of love.

So there you go my friends, I have shared with you what I have learned. And I know that I have just barely scratched the surface. But hopefully it has given you a good starting point and you have enjoyed reading the series.:) Good luck on your journey of self-exploration!

Self-reflection: The Child

I recently went to a course called The Whole Person (Den Hela Människan) led by Bengt Jacobsson, so I will write a few reflections from that course in a series of posts.

According to some schools of thought we learn our values up until we are 7 years of age. I myself learned to help people, to respect the individual, to be curious, observant, cultivated my love for books and writing. I am still that same person. Shaped a bit differently by my life and experiences. But that little wide-eyed girl is still there. And it is so important to go back to that child often and the values we knew were true back then!

“Weeks passed, and the little Rabbit grew very old and shabby, but the Boy loved him just as much. He loved him so hard that he loved all his whiskers off, and the pink lining to his ears turned grey, and his brown spots faded. He even began to lose his shape, and he scarcely looked like a rabbit any more, except to the Boy. To him he was always beautiful, and that was all that the little Rabbit cared about. He didn’t mind how he looked to other people, because the nursery magic had made him Real, and when you are Real shabbiness doesn’t matter.”
― Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit