There is so much I resonate with and want to quote from this incredibly tender and powerful piece of writing. Thank you especially for the reminder of wisdom teachings about 'suffering with intention'.
This, I believe, is the secret code to unlock the evolutionary process of becoming, over and over... 🙏 💗
"the secret code to unlock the evolutionary process of becoming"
Yes!
and "over and over. . ."
Yes!
The irony is the reverie, the indestructible joy, the kernel of truth, and the truth of love we come to, these energies of being offering "spiritual substance" for a universe unfolding through its own desire to be. It's quite breathtaking.
Yes, to bear our evolutionary becoming through brokenopenheartedness (a holy heart) is to care for the becoming of All that is.
Beautifully conveyed Renee💔🌀🙏🏻
As I dwelled with the grace of your soulful writing, I had an image-memory of a time of my being in a Lakota sweat lodge. enduring the “pain” of the intense heat for the good of ‘All Our Relations’.
I love the turn from brokenheartedness to brokenopenheartedness (a holy heart)-- broken open to originary wholeness.
Your image of your time in the sweat lodge is a wholly captivating image of the pain endured in the transmutation of energy and that we do not suffer for ourselves alone.
Thank you, always, for your insightful reflections. 🫀🙏
Hmm, I guess this means I need to work on putting that snarky voice inside my head to bed so she can be replaced by a grace-filled voice! I appreciate that you write intention is borne through an actual physical action of the heart. I agree with this and look forward to learning more. I find it fascinating (and unfortunate) how much my attention, and ability to sit with my suffering, depend on what is currently manifesting in my physical body, namely did I get enough sleep.
That snarky voice we all carry inside is not our own, as your Bright Life work so beautifully reminds us. Every time we catch and replace snark with that grace-filled voice, we give our physiology the inner voice equivalent of fresh-pressed juice. What science is beginning to clarify is that "fresh-pressed juice" also feeds the "field" (morphic field, if you wish). In other words, what we offer ourselves, we offer the world. And yes (!), the body is the first gateway of suffering and so, suffering borne with intention. Your example of "did I get enough sleep" is spot on. It takes energy to do the activities of living. It takes more energy to suffer the proverbial grit in the oyster shell of daily life. Suffered with intention, that energy required is energy (fresh-pressed juice) offered the evolutionary process . . . the pearl of great price.
Thank you for this, Donna. We will explore the nuances of this topic more in the coming months, and as always, I look forward to the ways you enrich these reflections. ❤️
Renee, I appreciate your insightful wisdom on this comment. The concept of "fresh-pressed juice" is brilliant because it sticks with me. Also, the idea of juice is that it can fit between the cracks, it can nourish in places other things cannot, it is unique! I look forward to what is coming.
So much to echo and appreciate here Renée. I’m especially moved by the “image” of suffering handing us over—like a natural, evolutionary extension of suffering, wide arms reaching across existence to hold, in tenderness, all that aches.
“Suffering with intention sighs upon the world a force of extravagant tenderness and hands us over to laboring with conscience on behalf of the becoming of all that is.”
Kimberly, thank you for reading and this beautiful reflection, "suffering handing us over. . . ." I know you are no stranger to suffering, and I thought of Unfixed as I was reflecting on and writing this essay. The hand your work so exquisitely offers is permission to be with what is. Of course, we want to alleviate suffering, our own and others. Where we get into trouble is not discerning that there is suffering that simply is and there is unnecessary suffering. Your work shows us the beauty of being with suffering that simply is, not trying to fix it but to live unfixed in an unfinished world . . . a world that will never be finished. This is true of the body, of all life. The evolutionary process--the becoming of all--is always beyond the comfort zone! ❤️
"And where there is love, there is the evolutionary transmutation of being." There have been so many moments when I wished the grand mals that whipped me to the floor would be swift cancer but for love, which allows me to see these epilepsies anew.
Alisa, I can only imagine being whipped to the floor with the grand mals and the wish to be released by a swift cancer. To be released to ease. Pleading for mercy. Suffering with intention does not release us from the thing that whips us to the floor, as you no doubt know. "But for love . . ." has the potential to transmute. "But for love . . ." is an offering to the suffering itself, to our life. It is the most extravagant act of tenderness, and in those moments we manage to muster it, I can tell you that something is released and something is given, and that interchange is a moment of grace for our own being and the being of the unfolding universe. . . .
We never do this work for ourselves alone. But for love of ourselves alone would surely be enough. 🙏❤️
Thank you for reading and reflecting on this post. You're no stranger to suffering over the past year, as you've so generously shared and let us be touched by, giving us to inner feeling in empathy – to conscience. The paths are many . . . and shared. ❤️
Suffering with intention is a rich facet of being fully human. It brings transformative capacity to unavoidable pain and channels it away from “doing something” to seeing more of everything.
Susie, thank you for your ever-insightful words ". . . channels it away from 'doing something' to seeing more of everything." Boy howdy. If we can allow ourselves to be stilled, then we can see more with more. ❤️
"Suffering with intention." What a powerful statement. Not the suffering of blame, playing the victim, but one of knowing - place - in the immensity of our world. Reformation, metamorphosis, birth and death are happening everywhere, and all the time. In my "place" I witness and feel what is moving here, outwardly and inwardly. And I feel the suffering. And it takes energy to feel it and move with it. And it's not easy. And it is life expressing in this moment, in this way. Suffering with intention becomes empowering. Being with the evolution of life rather than criticizing it.
In your comment, I read, having the sense that, on the spot, you are moving into the felt sense of being with suffering with intention. You write: "In my 'place' I witness and feel what is moving here. . . ." You presence the movement inwardly, outwardly, and in this act of presence, there is in you an opening to feel the suffering. Then comes the recognition of the energy to feel it. Then comes the recognition that it is not easy. Then comes the recognition of a sense of being empowered to participate in the evolution of the moment . . . the world. Truly beautiful. Thank you for sharing and bringing us into the moment wiht you, not only as witnesses but, importantly, as participants.
Dear Renee, I have yet to form my words in response, but to let you know that I am here listening, taking note and mostly thinking about the worm and whether they made it………
Dear Louise, thank you for listening, taking note, holding the earthworm in your tender heart with such care. Thank you for saying "have yet to form my words." These words say as much as any you might bring to the page. {deep bow}
With the Earth 'groaning in travail waiting to give birth to itself' and with humans being part of Mother Earth, I've long been wondering what is the right context with which to understand suffering. I guess like contemplating a lotus flower which reveals some mystery over time, so also if we go the distance with suffering it will reveal a kernal of truth we have searching for. Thank you for an intriguing and wonderful article.
I finally had a chance to read your essay and it felt like such a gut-level YES!!!
Thank you - your post has helped me to both remember and solidify my own thinking, it is also the inspiration for my latest Substack post. I'll share it here in case you have the opportunity to read it.
There is so much I resonate with and want to quote from this incredibly tender and powerful piece of writing. Thank you especially for the reminder of wisdom teachings about 'suffering with intention'.
This, I believe, is the secret code to unlock the evolutionary process of becoming, over and over... 🙏 💗
Veronika,
"the secret code to unlock the evolutionary process of becoming"
Yes!
and "over and over. . ."
Yes!
The irony is the reverie, the indestructible joy, the kernel of truth, and the truth of love we come to, these energies of being offering "spiritual substance" for a universe unfolding through its own desire to be. It's quite breathtaking.
Thank you so. 🙏❤️
Yes, to bear our evolutionary becoming through brokenopenheartedness (a holy heart) is to care for the becoming of All that is.
Beautifully conveyed Renee💔🌀🙏🏻
As I dwelled with the grace of your soulful writing, I had an image-memory of a time of my being in a Lakota sweat lodge. enduring the “pain” of the intense heat for the good of ‘All Our Relations’.
Megan,
I love the turn from brokenheartedness to brokenopenheartedness (a holy heart)-- broken open to originary wholeness.
Your image of your time in the sweat lodge is a wholly captivating image of the pain endured in the transmutation of energy and that we do not suffer for ourselves alone.
Thank you, always, for your insightful reflections. 🫀🙏
May we hold our suffering with intention.
Hmm, I guess this means I need to work on putting that snarky voice inside my head to bed so she can be replaced by a grace-filled voice! I appreciate that you write intention is borne through an actual physical action of the heart. I agree with this and look forward to learning more. I find it fascinating (and unfortunate) how much my attention, and ability to sit with my suffering, depend on what is currently manifesting in my physical body, namely did I get enough sleep.
Donna,
That snarky voice we all carry inside is not our own, as your Bright Life work so beautifully reminds us. Every time we catch and replace snark with that grace-filled voice, we give our physiology the inner voice equivalent of fresh-pressed juice. What science is beginning to clarify is that "fresh-pressed juice" also feeds the "field" (morphic field, if you wish). In other words, what we offer ourselves, we offer the world. And yes (!), the body is the first gateway of suffering and so, suffering borne with intention. Your example of "did I get enough sleep" is spot on. It takes energy to do the activities of living. It takes more energy to suffer the proverbial grit in the oyster shell of daily life. Suffered with intention, that energy required is energy (fresh-pressed juice) offered the evolutionary process . . . the pearl of great price.
Thank you for this, Donna. We will explore the nuances of this topic more in the coming months, and as always, I look forward to the ways you enrich these reflections. ❤️
Renee, I appreciate your insightful wisdom on this comment. The concept of "fresh-pressed juice" is brilliant because it sticks with me. Also, the idea of juice is that it can fit between the cracks, it can nourish in places other things cannot, it is unique! I look forward to what is coming.
So much to echo and appreciate here Renée. I’m especially moved by the “image” of suffering handing us over—like a natural, evolutionary extension of suffering, wide arms reaching across existence to hold, in tenderness, all that aches.
“Suffering with intention sighs upon the world a force of extravagant tenderness and hands us over to laboring with conscience on behalf of the becoming of all that is.”
Kimberly, thank you for reading and this beautiful reflection, "suffering handing us over. . . ." I know you are no stranger to suffering, and I thought of Unfixed as I was reflecting on and writing this essay. The hand your work so exquisitely offers is permission to be with what is. Of course, we want to alleviate suffering, our own and others. Where we get into trouble is not discerning that there is suffering that simply is and there is unnecessary suffering. Your work shows us the beauty of being with suffering that simply is, not trying to fix it but to live unfixed in an unfinished world . . . a world that will never be finished. This is true of the body, of all life. The evolutionary process--the becoming of all--is always beyond the comfort zone! ❤️
As always, thank you for the timely reflections.
Jacob, thank you for reading and letting me know these reflections touch you, dear Friend.
"And where there is love, there is the evolutionary transmutation of being." There have been so many moments when I wished the grand mals that whipped me to the floor would be swift cancer but for love, which allows me to see these epilepsies anew.
Alisa, I can only imagine being whipped to the floor with the grand mals and the wish to be released by a swift cancer. To be released to ease. Pleading for mercy. Suffering with intention does not release us from the thing that whips us to the floor, as you no doubt know. "But for love . . ." has the potential to transmute. "But for love . . ." is an offering to the suffering itself, to our life. It is the most extravagant act of tenderness, and in those moments we manage to muster it, I can tell you that something is released and something is given, and that interchange is a moment of grace for our own being and the being of the unfolding universe. . . .
We never do this work for ourselves alone. But for love of ourselves alone would surely be enough. 🙏❤️
“cobalt with kindness”! What a beautiful phrase.
I will love too the contemplation of suffering with intention and how doing so gives us over to spending time with conscience.
Thank you for this post, Renee.
Holly,
Thank you for reading and reflecting on this post. You're no stranger to suffering over the past year, as you've so generously shared and let us be touched by, giving us to inner feeling in empathy – to conscience. The paths are many . . . and shared. ❤️
Suffering with intention is a rich facet of being fully human. It brings transformative capacity to unavoidable pain and channels it away from “doing something” to seeing more of everything.
Susie, thank you for your ever-insightful words ". . . channels it away from 'doing something' to seeing more of everything." Boy howdy. If we can allow ourselves to be stilled, then we can see more with more. ❤️
This is probably the most beautiful writing I read in all week. Thank you for such grace and tenderness for the world we inhabit.
Swarnali, thank you for sharing this with me. I'm so glad to connect. There *is* grace in this unfinished world. 🙏
Grateful💜
If the only thing I do during any given day is to help an earthworm to get to a patch of grass, it has been a good day. 🪱
A good day, indeed, Louise.
"Suffering with intention." What a powerful statement. Not the suffering of blame, playing the victim, but one of knowing - place - in the immensity of our world. Reformation, metamorphosis, birth and death are happening everywhere, and all the time. In my "place" I witness and feel what is moving here, outwardly and inwardly. And I feel the suffering. And it takes energy to feel it and move with it. And it's not easy. And it is life expressing in this moment, in this way. Suffering with intention becomes empowering. Being with the evolution of life rather than criticizing it.
Dear Julie,
In your comment, I read, having the sense that, on the spot, you are moving into the felt sense of being with suffering with intention. You write: "In my 'place' I witness and feel what is moving here. . . ." You presence the movement inwardly, outwardly, and in this act of presence, there is in you an opening to feel the suffering. Then comes the recognition of the energy to feel it. Then comes the recognition that it is not easy. Then comes the recognition of a sense of being empowered to participate in the evolution of the moment . . . the world. Truly beautiful. Thank you for sharing and bringing us into the moment wiht you, not only as witnesses but, importantly, as participants.
Thanks Renée!
Dear Renee, I have yet to form my words in response, but to let you know that I am here listening, taking note and mostly thinking about the worm and whether they made it………
Dear Louise, thank you for listening, taking note, holding the earthworm in your tender heart with such care. Thank you for saying "have yet to form my words." These words say as much as any you might bring to the page. {deep bow}
With the Earth 'groaning in travail waiting to give birth to itself' and with humans being part of Mother Earth, I've long been wondering what is the right context with which to understand suffering. I guess like contemplating a lotus flower which reveals some mystery over time, so also if we go the distance with suffering it will reveal a kernal of truth we have searching for. Thank you for an intriguing and wonderful article.
I haven't even read the article yet but do you know what the title just got me. I fully agree at least with what I think you mean. Will read x
Florence, thank you for sharing this with me. I'm so glad the title drew you to the page. 🙏This Sunday's post will be a follow-up to this one.
I finally had a chance to read your essay and it felt like such a gut-level YES!!!
Thank you - your post has helped me to both remember and solidify my own thinking, it is also the inspiration for my latest Substack post. I'll share it here in case you have the opportunity to read it.
https://florenceukpabiokwusogu.substack.com/p/in-the-middle-of-creation-dharma-and-becoming