To Find Something, Don't Look For It
Pentru a găsi ceva, nu căuta. --de Robin Wall Kimmerer
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În intervalul dintre decolare și aterizare, suntem cu toții în aer, o pauză între capitolele vieții noastre. Când privim prin fereastră către soarele strălucitor, peisajul este ca o proiecție plată cu lanțuri montane ce par niște riduri în pielea continentală. Neștiutori cu privire la ceea ce este deasupra noastră, noi povești se conturează sub noi. Murele dau în pârg sub soarele de August; o femeie își face bagajele și ezită să treacă pragul; o scrisoare este deschisă și dintre pagini apare cea mai surprinzătoare fotografie. Dar ne mișcăm prea repede și suntem prea departe; toate poveștile ne scapă, cu excepția poveștii noastre.
Bieți oameni miopi ce suntem, lipsiți de acuitatea vizuală a păsării de pradă și fără talentele muștei de a privi panoramic. Totuși, cu creierele noastre mari, măcar suntem conștienți de limitele privirii noastre. Cu un grad de modestie rar întâlnit la specia noastră, ne dăm seama că nu putem vedea multe lucruri și astfel că inventăm obiecte remarcabile pentru a observa lumea. Sateliți cu spectru infraroșu, telescoape optice și telescopul spațial Hubble, toate aduc vastitatea în sfera noastră vizuală. Microscoapele electronice ne dau voie să cercetăm universul distant al propriilor celule.
Totuși la scară mijlocie, aceea a vederii pur și simplu, ne străduim să zărim ceea ce este dincolo de noi, dar deseori suntem orbi la miriadele de fațete strălucitoare care se află la îndemână. Credem că am înțeles, când de-abia am cercetat suprafața. Acuitatea noastră vizuală la această scară pare diminuată nu de vreun neajuns al vederii, ci de disponibilitatea minții. Oare puterea dispozitivelor noastre ne-a făcut să nu mai avem încredere în ochii noștrii? Sau poate că am devenit neîncrezători în ceea ce nu folosește tehnologie și are nevoie de timp și răbdare pentru a fi observat? Puterea atenției poate rivaliza cu cele mai puternice lentile de mărire.
Un bătrân cunoscut de-al meu, indian Cheyenne, mi-a spus că cea mai bună metodă de a găsi ceva este să nu pornești în căutarea sa. Acesta este un concept dificil pentru un cercetător. Tot el ne îndeamnă să privim cu colțul ochilor, deschiși oricărei posibilități, și atunci ceea ce căutăm ni se va arăta. Revelația de a vedea dintr-o dată lucrul la care am fost oarbă cu doar câteva clipe înainte, este o experiență sublimă pentru mine. Aducându-mi aminte de aceste momente, retrăiesc din nou deschiderea trăită atunci. Este o experiență umilă și fericită atunci când granițele dintre lumea mea și lumea unei alte ființe se îndepărtează cu o claritate spontană.
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Întrebări pentru reflecție: Cum vă raportați la idea că metoda cea mai bună de a găsi ceva este de a nu porni în căutarea sa? Ați putea să împărtășiți o experiență în care ați trăit revelația de a fi deschis către noi posibilități? Ce vă ajută să rămâneți deschis la noi posibilități?
Robin Wall Kimmerer is a botanist and a poet. Excerpts above are from her book: Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses
SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: How do you relate to the notion that the best way to find something is not to go looking for it? Can you share a personal story of a time you had the sublime experience of a revelation by being open to possibility? What helps you stay open to possibility?
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27 Past Reflections
On Jul 16, 2023 Yashio wrote :
The best way to find something is not to go looking for it is said in the Japanese culture as well. ( I am Japanese.) Too much focus on searching and moving will get you nowhere. Rather, better stop and let it go. And then it will come to you at the right time. This is balancing too much focus and neutralizing for making a natural flow, I think. The Chynenne way is to wait until your blindness disappears for the aha moment. It's interesting. It's like conscious of one's blindness and removing it by being conscious of it. I find my wife revealing that she doesn't care about my age of 38 and she was 28. That was being open to possibility in my case. I give my case to my guardian angels and let it happen. This helps in my case.
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On Jul 15, 2023 Mary Thomson wrote :
When looking for something we are likely to dismiss other things more easily and therefore not really see them.
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On Jul 15, 2023 Marco Menato wrote :
I realised some time ago that the unplanned, the unexpected, when life interferes with well-laid (or poorly-laid) objectives, lead to more exciting, fulfilling experiences. So ... I decided to prioritise intuition, to allow myself to flow with events. I am convinced that beyond life's apparent randomness, is a transcendent intelligence weaving meaning from apparent anarchy. When I realise I am tensing up with the effort of searching, I xeliberately release expectation. I have no idea what should happen next. Take the example of this story-telling group; I had no idea what it was all about, and it turns out to be an exercise in explicating meaning from a random group of humans committing together.
1 reply: Yashio | Post Your Reply
On Mar 24, 2023 Susan wrote :
This speaks volumes about what is around us. I have experienced a way of sensing when my gaze is soft and my ears attune differently. The glory in any moment is that close.
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On Oct 6, 2020 Fatma wrote :
Very powerful...it teaches me a skill of attraction rather than efforting...!
1 reply: Yashio | Post Your Reply
On Jun 30, 2020 Lawrence Mohammed wrote :
Having volunteered five years ago on a whim for a community project whose concept energised me, much to the disdain of my girlfriend at the time who felt I had neither the time nor space to do this, I ended up starting a separate (and unrelated) social enterprise in order to keep this community projects momentum going. The result? Halting a huge arts and education project I had been working on and had invested all my money in, for something I hadn't planned to do nor something I would have had the courage to do. The head said no, the heart said yes and I simply went with how I felt and what seemed to be flowing 'through' me; whether ideas, 'chance' encounters, funds, opportunities or community needs I could meet. What helps me stay open to possibility are daily practices I have adopted, also the knowledge that the more I learn, the less I know and if grounded, I should pay attention to how I feel. The social enterprise has since gone on to win awards and is in huge ... [View Full Comment]
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On Jun 30, 2020 thea nietfeld wrote :
Making friends wherever I am involves being open to possibility. One cannot know in advance who will become a friend kor know whether the other is open to friendship. Recently, I explored living on The Farm intentional community in rural Tennessee. While I did not choose to live there, the moments of friendship and some ongoing connections reminded me of the beautiful uniqueness that attract us to each other.
1 reply: Fatma | Post Your Reply
On Jun 20, 2020 Elaine Gotfryd Noonan wrote :
To live in the present moment, while being aware of the past or projection of the future, requires an openness to the revelations and discoveries along the way. Pursuing ideas or interests without limiting the types of experiences or visions of what my seeking will look like is important for me; in this "open hearted and open minded place", I recognize a new idea or opportunity as it is revealed in the present moment. If I have a preconceived idea or paradigm, I may totally miss what opportunityis being brought into my life....something greater than I could not have imagined. Recognizing any filters (past life experiences) in my perception of any given situation, that may be projected in the future, is an aspect of of what I am taking into consideration in any given moment.
When I needed a job to raise my family, I had no experience in a library or as a librarian. I remained open to this new possibility and I had since gone on to pursue a Masters Degree in Library Science an... [View Full Comment]
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On May 24, 2020 Pia wrote :
Such a beautiful passage. I remember watching an interview between Oprah and Lady Gaga where Lady Gaga said to get answers to questions she would just pray to God for the answer to be revealed, for God to show her how she is meant to serve. I am very much at a cross road now where I am looking for answers as to how I am meant to serve and find purpose outside of home. My first instinct is to make lists and talk to people but this reading has reminded me that I may find what I'm looking for by not searching and being open to messages that may show up. Thank you for some clarity.
1 reply: Thea | Post Your Reply
On May 22, 2020 Jane wrote :
Love this piece and every comment with it. On a mundane level when I can't think of a word or a name and I 'wrack my brains" fretting and frothing - when I let it go and stop chasing it, it usually comes to me easily. I also like Alan Watts' quote from "The Wisdom of Insecurity : A Message for an Age of Anxiety" ''The desire for security and the feeling of insecurity are the same thing. To hold your breath is to lose your breath. A society based on the quest for security is nothing but a breath-retention contest in which everyone is as taut as a drum and as purple as a beet.''
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On May 21, 2020 Gururaj wrote :
Becoming aware , suddenly, that I am aware , is also a shift or widening of sorts in perception.
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On May 20, 2020 Kay wrote :
Wonderful article! I have at times practice this and what I hope to find comes to me at its own time.
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On May 19, 2020 Dauntlessoul wrote :
My open to possibility mantra: We always make the best choice, or we'd have made a different choice. We are where we want to be. We always get what we want. At times we don't understand what we get, or why we want it. We want, deeply, anticipation in the present. The gift, desire, opens itself.
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On May 19, 2020 Anilkumar Pandit wrote :
Indeed looking for something is by itself narrowing our vision, and looking for it through external sensors is tunneling it further.
Granted that this approach does provide an in-depth understanding, but its like going into a mine looking for coal or diamond, but at the cost of missing the entire earth.
However for personal breakthrough, we need to go far beyond the seen and the un-seen, to the un-seeable! Developing ourselves far beyond the faculty of mere seeing to merge and feel the unison.
Granted that this approach does provide an in-depth understanding, but its like going into a mine looking for coal or diamond, but at the cost of missing the entire earth.
However for personal breakthrough, we need to go far beyond the seen and the un-seen, to the un-seeable! Developing ourselves far beyond the faculty of mere seeing to merge and feel the unison.
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On May 19, 2020 Shyam Gupta wrote :
Many times, when weare looking for a solution to a difficult problem, itout of eludes us no matter how hartd we try. But having kept the problem aside, suddenly , out of nowhere, the solution emerges.
Our overcharged mind,has limited scope to accomplish, but a quiet and a still mind can acheive unimaginable results.We can find newer meaning when we cede control of our mind to our higher self.
I can remeber SN Goenka, ji's audio , telling us to stop looking for bliss during Vipasaana meditation, Just concentrate on the breath, observe the senasations and if the practice is strong enough, bliss wil be there.
Our overcharged mind,has limited scope to accomplish, but a quiet and a still mind can acheive unimaginable results.We can find newer meaning when we cede control of our mind to our higher self.
I can remeber SN Goenka, ji's audio , telling us to stop looking for bliss during Vipasaana meditation, Just concentrate on the breath, observe the senasations and if the practice is strong enough, bliss wil be there.
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On May 19, 2020 Mr Satish Kanabar wrote :
They say that the best way to gain something is to lose it. I think very often when we are undertaking a task, we can get busy thinking of the past or what we want to gain from the action, ie about the result and thus the future. Rarely are we focussed entirely in the task at hand and thus not able to give it 100% effort and thus miss out on the enjoyment the task can actually provide but also the best result we could have.
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On May 15, 2020 Jagdish P Dave wrote :
I deeply resonate with the basic message of this thought provoking passage authored by Robin Wall Kimmerer: " To find something, don't look for it." In Indian philosophy, there is a concept of the Third Eye. That eye reveals the glory and awe of the vastness of the universe. We get a glimpse of it when let go of the limited capacity of our worldly eyes . Worldly eyes sadly create boundaries that separate us from the oneness of life. When we let our inner spiritual eyes open, the truth is revealed. Our inner world expands and welcomesthe guests coming from nowhere. Unconditional love, open-heartedness and open-mindedness open the doors for the unnamed guests to come.
I have had glimpses of such experiences more in my childhood than in my adulthood. I am very fond of spending time with nature. When I was a child I used to sit under a tree that I had planted in my back yard. Sitting under the tree doing nothing and expecting nothing to show up, I used to get glimpses of the ... [View Full Comment]
1 reply: Sheila | Post Your Reply
On May 15, 2020 David Doane wrote :
Sometimes we are so busy seeking, striving, chasing, or whatever that even our own story escapes us. Thoreau said when you stop chasing the butterfly it will come and sit on your shoulder. Many times I have struggled in writing something, and it's when I take a break that a better way of expressing occurs to me. I hear of people who stop seeking the right partner, and then find one (sometimes the one they're already with). Seek and you shall find; I think seek means be open, not goal obsessed. 'Looking for' is a putting on blinders, which help in some seeking and get in the way of some finding. As for having the sublime experience of a revelation by being open to possibility -- is there another way? An example, my being open to Eastern thinking opened a new world for me and I continue to have sublime experiences of revelations about life. What helps me stay open to possibility is my knowing that possibility is alive and exciting and is the ground of discovery and wisdom... [View Full Comment]