#28 The Trifecta of Being

Thinking, feeling, doing. Three key parts of the human experience. One is rational, using the brain. The other one you might call emotional or intuitive, using the heart. And doing is the by product of the two, the action that is taken as a response to the thoughts and feelings coursing through one’s being.

If these are the core elements to the human experience, then the question of how to improve the human experience leads me to wonder whether or not we have any control over these elements. Are we truly the captains of our ship? Can we be the masters of our own destiny, if we are subject to the whims of these processes? Or do we actually have the ability to sit back, witness the thinking, feeling and doing taking place, and transform / transmute them if we see fit?

We’re not our thoughts, or our emotions, or our actions. They are indicators of the state of our being, shaped by our perception of the world, and guided by the stories we hold about them. The same thing can happen to two different people, but each will interpret it differently based on the lens through which they see the world. 

Widening our perception, and our ability to see a more beautiful story, can do wonders for our lives, but it requires an opening of our being. An accepting of that which is – all thoughts, feelings, and sensations - an allowing for all things to flow through our systems, whether desired or not.

More thoughts, emotions, and behavioral patterns will course their way through the mind, heart and body. And with this, we gain access to a wider range of human experience, as well as the ability to begin to weave the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of our being towards the experience our soul desires.

#27 Stories of Substance

We all have a story. A past, a present and a future in our hearts and minds that define who we are, or at least, who we believe ourselves to be.

This story shapes us – it either limits or empowers. Story, is what we all have in common. Yet at the same time, it is the thing that pulls us apart. Religions, ideologies, economies and societies are all stories, often waging war over difference in perspectives.

Narratives frame our view and shape our worlds, and in turn we try to shape the world in their image. Empires rise and fall. Heros are born and die.

Stories are tragic, yet they are the fuel which keeps us moving forward. Stories define and divide, but they are also grounded in the divine. They are the fabric of our souls, and let’s not mistake our many designs, for the substance in which they all reside. 

#26 Spine of the Soul

Stories hold things together. They hold the mind together, bringing order and meaning to what’s often a chaotic mix of fleeting thoughts and ideas.

They hold information together, into a coherent series of bits that become more than just random factoids easily forgotten, but key elements of a scene, educational, inspirational or revelational that lodges itself in the memory.

In a sense, stories are the backbone of our lived experience. In a similar way, our own spines hold us up and keep our parts intact.

A strong spine keeps us alert, upright, and energized, just as does a powerful story. Is it a coincidence that the shape of a healthy spine, is the same shape as a vibrant story? I don’t think so.

They are fundamental patterns of mind and body, which find their reflection within a shared structure, foundation and fabric of soul.  

# 24 A Short Story About Stories

Story is the articulation of the passage of events over the course of time. In a way, it seems to sort of freeze into place, or preserve the happenings of the present moment. The present moment leaves a wake behind itself. Expressing highs and lows of vibration, resulting in a wave like or spiral like pattern of peaks and troughs.

And the stories we tell, the recollections of events, take on this shape as they outline the patterns of this passage. If a verbal story is the crystallization of a series of events, can we draw a comparison with physical form… of matter? Rocks, crystals, plants, animals, the earth and human beings… we are made up of material that arose out of a present moment, and has taken shape for some period, before ultimately falling back into the source from which it sprang.

In this sense, perhaps we can say that a story is not only a verbal or mental construction, but can also be a physical manifestation. We don’t just hold stories  in our minds or books,. the world as we know it is literally made of stories.. it is a story. One that is constantly evolving, changing, fading away and reemerging. The story exists on multiple levels, from the most gross down to the microscopic and quantum.

Amongst life as we know it, it’s roots are in the DNA which constitutes the fabric of our being. Our DNA holds the story of our lineage… passed down through the generations… again, crystallizations of the events and experiences that have taken place over millenia… the byproduct of evolution and epigenetic imprintation. Yet, I think there’s something in many of us that says we are more than our bodies, we are more than this earth or the physical reality we live in.

We are not just our DNA, but there is something about us which underpins our earthly existence. There is something about who we are that transcends our lifetime… that extends far before and will endure long after our time here in this incarnation. But what is it? Our souls? Our spirits? Our true nature?

There seems to be some thread, some continuous sense of self which permeates the cycles of time. Which weaves together the revolutions of the universe, the manifestations of this reality, and all the stories which permeate it and their fleeting physical existence on this plane. The forms come and go, the surface level stories come to life but then pass away, and what is left, what lives on, what is revealed through these unravellings are the stories of who we really are.