Koviashuktok - Sam Wright

Koviashuktok is an Eskimo word, loosely meaning,
"the inner dream." It is one with the living water welling up
from the very springs of being that nourish and sustain all life.
Without it life becomes a dreary, dead place and deep within,
our spirit begins to rot.  The inner dream need not be some 
great and overwhelming plan; it need not be a dramatic
picture of what might or must be some day.

Koviashuktok is the quiet persistence in the heart that 
enables us to ride out the storms of churning experiences.
Koviashuktok is the exciting whisper moving through the isles
of our spirit answering the monotony of limitless days of
dull routine.  It is the ever-recurring melody in the midst of
broken harmony and harsh discords of human conflict.  It is the
touch of significance which highlights the ordinary experience,
the common event, the wonder of each hour, the beauty of the
Earth.

Koviashuktok is not an outward thing.  It does not take its rise
from the environment in which we move and function. It lives
in the inward parts, it is the deep within where the issues of life
and death are ultimately determined.

We need to keep alive the exciting whisper, for as long as we are
Koviashuktok, we cannot lose the significance of living.

Sam Wright 
from: The Edge of Tomorrow

with thanks to Heron Dance

~

Photo from an ad featuring
"Cool Night" by Paul Davis

 

Everything Falls Away...

Everything is falling away.
Systems and internal conceptual structures
are fracturing; all around you - disintegration.
Only a shadow of what they were...

You cannot mend this -
People believe what they want to believe,
think what they want to think.

Hold fast...
Hold fast - do not be moved.
Lean into the intensity and hold fast.

Be brave - the storm is yet to come...

Mystic Meandering

_/\_

I found this written on some scratch paper
while decluttering on 7/28
Have no idea when it was written, but seems
appropriate to what we are facing now,
in this realm of existence...

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

 

Wisdom in the Storms - a meandering

Not everyone makes it through... and what tries to kill you
takes a lot of energy that makes you tired and anxious, and
might be better used elsewhere...

Rebecca Solnit
Recollections of My Nonexistence

~

What I call "unnecessary storms" are the ones that are created
by those in your life who have refused to take responsibility
for their own lives - whose life choices continue to impact you
in a negative way.  They can kill your spirit, your creativity
and your motivation, as well as drain your life energy, affecting
your health and well-being.  I almost drowned in another person's
addiction through "care taking", "rescuing", and enabling,
discovering how easy it is to get entangled in their "unnecessary
storms" - their crises, their dramas - that they create through their
addictive behavior; blaming you for their circumstances; calling
you names.  And no matter what you do for them, it is never
enough... (Some of you know exactly what I'm talking about.)

The "unnecessary storms" keep you focused on "the elephant in
the room" - keeping things in chaos and stress.  How interesting
that they have the power to do that - to distract and disrupt your
life rhythm - even your inner life - in their boredom, needing
your attention, time, and presence - in their self-induced
helplessness....

And yet... I have found there is wisdom gained in enduring these
"unnecessary storms."

A friend once told me, it is important to follow the wisdom of 
compassion, and I would add - kindness and even empathy.  We
all have our "addictions", even"spiritual" ones, and a common
dysfunction, which the Buddhists call conditioning.  The Hindus
call it Samskaras - the psychological wounds or imprints in the
mind, or innate behavior inclinations.  As a Professional advised:
Be compassionate - yes - but don't get into the water and drown
with them.  Don't get sucked into their vortex.

So I've had to learn to listen to and trust my inner instincts and
intuition, the whispers of the Heart...

Not to judge, but to find a way to relate in as compassionate way
as possible - seeing their pain, and reasons for their addiction;
often using humor when needing to set boundaries.  I recently
moved into acceptance mode: accepting them and their life
experiences as part of a larger Tapestry - a diverse human
tapestry inclusive of all life experiences - each expressing a
unique piece - even the darker ones.  I dropped the old, hard
stances, (as Alanon and CODA use) and my old roles; learning
the hard lesson to accept who they are and their path - not trying
to control their behavior - or what I think "should" be happening.

But - I also have to remember to step back, to not go down the
rabbit hole with them, but find ways to compassionately take
care of myself, tending to my own soul and sanity - putting on
some music and dancing, finding my natural rhythm again -
my own flow, freeing myself from entanglement in the
"unnecessary storms."

_/\_

MM

I share this personal meandering in the hopes that it might
strike a chord with those who might be experiencing
"unnecessary storms."

Even mystics have messy lives :)

May we somehow find our way through them...

Blessings

~

 

Beneath the Storms - Thich Nhat Hanh

It's funny how much our surroundings influence our emotions.
Our joys and sorrows, likes and dislikes are colored by our
environment so much that often we just let our surroundings
dictate our course.

We go along with "public" feelings until we no longer even
know our own true aspirations.  We come a stranger to ourselves,
molded entirely by society...  Sometimes I feel caught between
two opposing "selves" - the "false self" impose by society and
what I would call my "true self."

How often I confuse the two and assume society's mold to be
our true self.  Battles between our "two selves" rarely result
in reconciliation.  Our mind becomes the battlefield...

Without storms like these, simmering in my own thoughts
and mental formations,  I would not be who I am today.  I
am often on the verge of tears or laughter.  But beneath all of
these [storms] what else is there?  How can I touch it?  If there
isn't anything why would I be so certain that there is?

I understand then that I am empty of ideals, hopes, viewpoints,

or allegiances.  I have not promise to keep with others.  In that
moment the sense of myself as an entity among other entities
disappears.  I know that this insight did not arise from dis-
appointment, despair, desire, or ignorance.

A veil lifted effortlessly.

That is all.

...what is actually here will reveal itself...

Some life dilemmas [storms] cannot be solved...
We just live them...

Thich Nhat Hanh
1926-2022

From: Fragrant Palm Leaves: Journals 1962-1966

with thanks to The Beauty We Love

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering