Human to Human

My friend Lucas, a teacher, recently wrote of what he was seeing in his teen students. An angst. A generalized disappointment. Hurt. It’s summed up in “rotten world.” Lucas is thoughtful. He’s the kind of guide I would like if I had some teenagers in school.

Lucas, however isn’t just talking about the rotten. He is also talking about the exquisite beauty that exists in the world. In the big things. But even moreso, in the small things. The way the wind is now gently blowing the trees out my window. The way the water ripples. The way that my friends laughed together yesterday.

Herein lies a hunch of the big work, right — it is accepting, not denying, that it all exists together. And further, since the loud, “rotten” voices seem so compelling and dominant, to commit enough courage to acknowledge the rotten, but then also, acknowledge the beautiful.

There is an honesty that is needed in the day. It isn’t more marketing material that either doomsdays the moment, or bypasses the suffering (and the emotional depth we are required to practice).

They all exist at the same time. I think young people in general, want those of us that have been living a while, to tell the truth, which includes restoring some of their power to see and create was is good. To witness what is available within them in any moment.

The fact that people might be willing to engage in such full notions — this too is worth celebrating.

Read the full article by Lucas. He and Marshall Opel (they led the bike trip / men’s retreat I did in the summer), they are doing some of the exquisitely beautiful work in the world.

The outer vista is rather compelling. This picture from a few days ago. Near Hurricane, Utah. The reach of the red rock formations, The beauty of the blue sky expanse. And the 2-3 layers (20-30) that live between. It does something to the body, to the heart, and to the imagination.

And.

It is the inner vista that has always been equally compelling to me. There are reaches and expanses within us. There are always layers to explore. Things to know. Things to feel. Things that arise. I have pretty firm belief that the psyche perpetually moves to higher order when we are the tiniest bit willing (and like my friend Meg taught me years ago with organizations, “uses messes to get there”).

Where inner meets outer, yes, this is the interesting landscape to me. When attention to outer inspires insight on the inner, yes, this is the beauty. When attention to inner awakens intuition in the outer, yes, this is the good work of human living.

As before, we explore these things in Becoming & Belonging. We find our way to the simple. We find our way to what inspires. Try a session — these are small groups. You might find the landscape compelling.

I love this line from Toke. It’s a recent Zoom together. Toke does what Toke does, which so often names the deep layered purpose and practice. Flow Game is about “awakening practitioners of being awake.”

I’ve been enjoying several recent Flow Games moments. Yeah.
– the middle photo above was a playful end to a call. “Let’s draw a card for the road.”
– the first photo was an in-person men’s group, exploring questions of, well, being men. Three hours. A couple of cards drawn each. Good to be face to face.
– the photo on the right was today’s Becoming & Belonging Series. Such a rock star group, able to go to and support the deep learning.

And on we go. What delight to keep such company in such process.

This rose, well it’s just in, blooming near our front porch. I love the morning sunlight waking it to a day.

This just in, also, in conversation, some life-moving insight.

• “For many of us, our work is to awaken the practitioners. The practitioners of being awake.”
• “And then to help steward the practitioners, which is to say, help contribute kindly to a field of awakeness. “
• “And then to practice. It all loop on itself. Our work is to show up in our practice.”

Thx Toke. Yes, it is true that we humans can fall in love with being unconscious. And, that we humans can fall in love with being present and awake to life waking us.

Red is the rose.