| Anne Williamson |
It’s 5:00a, and I can’t sleep. I am listening to Daniel Goleman talk to Oprah about his ground-breaking work on emotional intelligence. I remember when his initial book on the subject came out. It was 1995; I was 14 years old and struggling beneath an eating disorder and depression. His book was a life line for me: for the first time, I glimpsed a future where my deep emotions and thoughts might not be weights on my life, but propellers toward success, or what I now call wholeness. Goleman’s work cracked open my current paradigm. Thank g/God.
In any particular moment in time, it is easy to believe nothing will ever shift our perspective so dramatically. We usually think our current reality has little to do with perception – that is, our unique cultural, familial and personality lens. But, it does. And, being open to this possibility, to surprise, not only keeps life interesting, it keeps us moving toward peace and wholeness.
It’s also my strongest argument for thoughtful, diverse community in our lives, for always looking to expand the orb of voices we hear. Always, there is so much we don’t know we don’t know. This truth can either scare us, causing us to huddle in our own little echo chambers; or, it can expand us, freeing us from fear.
This spring, as per usual in WAYfinding, we’re going to be doing a lot of questioning. Some of it will be personal in nature… What is the current shape of my community? My relationships with food and movement? My emotions and sense of meaning? Is each currently working for me? And, some of our questions will be public… How are my various relationships affecting others? What if we truly are interconnected? What is our responsibility, then? This process of questioning, and perhaps finding, may bring us to unexpected, even uncomfortable, places. Once again, thank g/God. That idea, that perspective, that hard truth you don’t know you don’t know today, may, often does, become your deep sigh of relief and meaning tomorrow.
Our spring round starts the week of April 4. If you are interested in joining the conversation, you may learn more and sign-up here. You are welcome to simply check a group out the first week or two; if it's not for you, no need to continue.