The Eye of the Hurricane
sitting with the power of choice
Dear Monday Morning Readers,
I sit with you today in the eye of the hurricane, the hurricane of thoughts, emotions and sensations arising from both inner and outer worlds on this bright Monday morning. I am trying to find the mind big enough to embrace all of what is arising.
As you may or may not be aware there is a hurricane here on Substack, a maelstrom created by the growing awareness of voices of violence and hate here on this platform. I can’t help but reflect that the same hurricane is writ large in our world right now as wars continue to be waged, wars full of hate that surpasses any reason from my point of view, endless useless harm and suffering abound. My inner self says focus on the things that one can actually effect, actually the one thing and one thing only that any of us can effect - our own minds. My outer self is outraged, grieving, ambivalent.
Yet, I am not ready to abandon this space entirely, the space where all voices can be heard. Are there voices here that I abhor? Yes. But is this not the condition of the world, a world full of all kinds of voices, a world I cannot avoid? What I know about my own mind, the world of my experience, is that it is constantly changing, that it is rife with thoughts that I do not control, sensations I wish I did not experience and feelings that are often unpleasant. And what I know about attempts to control my own mind, a mind simultaneously vast and particular, is that such control is not only futile but a waste of precious life force. I will not use the life that moves through me to attempt to control my circumstances. But I will direct my life forces to the task of choosing how I will respond to those circumstances.
This has been my manifesto all along. The byline here, is, after all “health powered by choice.” This has not changed. I am committed to revealing the choice points in my own experience to myself and powering others in finding their own choice points. This is truly how freedom is achieved in my estimation. Such freedom can only occur in each person’s heart and soul as they claim and acknowledge what is true for them. I respect and honor each of you as you choose whether or not you will remain here with me in some way.
I am choosing to remain here on the premise that my work, my humble thoughts on life and health may be of benefit. That I belong in the chorus, perhaps even deserving of a solo at times, and that my voice contributes to empowering each and every one of us. And I offer one of my favorite quotes from one of my long-time heroes, Alexander Solzhenitsyn:
If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.
And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?
In the end, due to the changing nature of my own life and circumstances, what will remain here is what has been posted here so far. I have loved being here with you on Monday mornings for the last few years. Before Substack I was with many of you for a solid three years before that. I hope to formulate the next iteration of my public writing life over the coming year but it is truly an evolutionary process that has a rhythm of its own. I do not yet know how it will look or what will want to be shared. As many of you know I have several writing projects that are asking for space to grow. I will keep you posted here as things come into being and clarity. And you are welcome to join me in other venues, private digital real estate, as it were, places that are not subject to the hurricane winds in the same way.
If you would like me to stay in touch with you and you are choosing to leave Substack altogether, you can sign up on my private mailing list here. For now, my publishing will be erratic and unpredictable but I will offer whatever I do publish to both lists. You can easily unsubscribe from either list at any time and as always, I welcome dialogue, commentary, opinion and feedback on any and all that I have offered. We are on this earth together and though I am often being the hermit that I am, finding quiet and space, I will find time for the conversation that I deem ever so important to choice and awareness for each of us. Though we may not have peace in the outer world, I still have confidence that each of us can make peace in our inner world.
I am ensconced here in the North for the next few months subject to great extremes of weather and very happily weathering it with many other sentient beings. ♥️
