Your great mistake is to act the drama
as if you were alone. As if life
were a progressive and cunning crime
with no witness to the tiny hidden
transgressions. To feel abandoned is to deny
the intimacy of your surroundings. Surely,
even you, at times, have felt the grand array;
the swelling presence, and the chorus, crowding
out your solo voice. You must note
the way the soap dish enables you,
or the window latch grants you freedom.
Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.
The stairs are your mentor of things
to come, the doors have always been there
to frighten you and invite you,
and the tiny speaker in the phone
is your dream-ladder to divinity.
Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into the
conversation. The kettle is singing
even as it pours you a drink, the cooking pots
have left their arrogant aloofness and
seen the good in you at last. All the birds
and creatures of the world are unutterably
themselves. Everything is waiting for you.
David Whyte from Everything is Waiting for You.
SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: How do you relate to the notion that feeling alone while in our drama is a great mistake? Can you share a personal experience where you felt the intimacy of your surroundings in a grand way? What helps you put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into the conversation?
The notion of feeling alone unknowingly suggests a consciousness deficit. We are never alone, since the universe in its vastness provides everything. It is therefore mistaken to feel alone. There is nature in all its bounty, our thoughts can take us to new dimensions, awareness revels what initially was thought not to be present, and when we see with new eyes, we realise we could never be alone, since spiritual insight reveals new worlds an new experiences to garner. I feel the intimacy of my surroundings, when I tend to our garden. I touch the trees, and the wind touches me by blowing on my body. When my dogs bark, I hear songs. The tweet of the birds wakes me from unwanted thoughts. The weight of my aloneness is put down when I change my way of thinking, interpret experiences in a new way, and open myself in an unjudgmental way to receive the gifts the yet unknown brings.
Early this morning I was watering the plants in my small garden. Since it was quite early in the morning I was all by myself as nobody was up and there were no passerby in the lane. Suddenly I started to sing few slokas in praise for Lord Shiva and I felt so good and connected to nature. I never sing like that and it was the first time I did it and felt connected to the trees and plants to the water and to the gentle cool breeze and to the chirping of the birds. Then I lay my eyes to this article “Everything is waiting for you” which taught me to listen to the song of kettle... how inspiring and unthinkable!!
I learned that we are only victims if we allow ourselves to be. When we mature we realize that w are never alone in our struggles because there is always someone going through the similar circumstances and there is always a great number of people who can help.
When I ask myself the question, "if you weren't the victim or heroine of your story, who might you be?" In the silence of an answer the follows I often feel as if I am both nothing and everything and any loneliness immediately somehow dissolves. I love this poem by David, I always have his poems close to hand, because from one poet to another, we both understand a need for aloneness, which at any given moment, can turn back on itself into a feeling of isolation
Feeling alone is a mistake, and an illusion, because we're really not alone. No one is an island. I don't think everyone or everything is waiting for me, but they are with me as part of this world, and I can reach out and connect rather than be alone. It's not necessary to be alone. I've been in groups in which I felt close connection with the others, and felt listened to, cared about and known. Such experiences are grand, loving, and intimate. When my aloneness is lonely, heavy, miserable for me, I put down the weight of my aloneness and reach out, or at least I can, and make an effort to connect with another. For me, it often hasn't been easing into connection and often has felt difficult but it is preferable and holds more possibility than remaining in an aloneness that is miserable. Usually I know that my aloneness is my own creation, and I know that my ending my aloneness and reaching out is also up to me.
Just today, stopped by a neighbor (flagged me down) that needed an ear, to not be alone and to shed a few tears.
Isolating ourselves is NEVER a good idea! I felt very connected to Katie ... presence key!