Truth

 

Today, I ran across Jen Lemen's brilliant post about what happens when you keep your truth hidden. Jen's words are so true. I know because I, like many of us, spent a lot of years with my truth in hiding and have experienced every one of the things on Jen's list. I've spent the last few years deliberately practicing my truth (or getting in touch with my truth) and practicing being open and being seen. I'm one of the slow learners. Things can take me a while and do and that's OK. Being seen can be incredibly terrifying. The most important thing is that we face our fears, not that we be fast at it. And if we push too hard before we are really ready, it's counterproductive. What I've discovered is this:

• Peeling back each layer of fear brings me closer to the truth of who I am and what I am really about, I start to see and see more clearly. I have started to feel a relief, an acceptance of myself as I really am. 
• Feeling all the pain that kept me hiding in the first place is scary and difficult, but as I continue to feel it, be honest about what I feel, what is important to me and what I really want for my life, it is gradually replaced by an embracing: of my truth, my story, myself. 
• I've also come to realize that we all have this experience of wanting hide our true selves and opt for a manufactured self, one that is better, more acceptable. Where I thought I was alone, I was really just like everyone else. Where I was trying to be like everyone else and blend in, I made myself feel the most alone.

A Little Quiet Reading

Texture: "Silence" by Kim Klassen

A little fall reading and feeling a little introspective lately. Fall does that to me; it always brings me back to my center after the heat and activity of summer. It's a chance to slow down, get back into routine and renew my priorities.

Walden, by Henry David Thoreau - I read this in high school and loved it. It's still one of my favorites.
The House of Belonging, by David Whyte
The Power of Kindness, by Pierro Ferrucci - I am loving this book! It will probably stay on my nightstand.
Creative Visualization, by Shakti Gawain
New and Selected Poems, Volume II, by Mary Oliver

Looking Up

Mint Lemon Tea

"There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea."

Mint Lemon Tea: Fresh mint leaves and a wedge of lemon in pure hot water. So refreshing, so cleansing, so lovely.

Stay the Path

"Surely all art is the result of one's having been in danger, of having gone through an experience all the way to the end, where no one can go any further."
~Rainer Maria Rilke

I would perhaps change the word, "art" in Rilke's quote to "life" as we are all "artists", whether we think we are or not, traveling a journey of discovery and creating ourselves.

Stay on the path.

Walk softly. 

Walk gently.

Slowly, if you must.

One step at a time.

Pay no attention to the cacophony.

Keep walking.

Rest when you need to.

Take good care of you.

Read the signs.

Photo Walk : Golden Gate Park

Scenes From The City

Just a few photos from a recent trip into the city. I've been playing with Photoshop filters to sharpen and brighten up raw images and make the colors pop a little.

Busy street in Chinatown. Don't all the red lanterns make things look so festive?

Why? Why not. 

I'm really loving graffiti art. Especially after seeing this movie. 

Is this man a time traveler from the 1940's or 50's? Here he is in 2011 sketching across the street from the Art Institute. I wonder what he's sketching?