Symptoms, especially those that cause us to suffer, can serve as our guides. They may ask us to stretch ourselves and to find an expansiveness that includes and incorporates them. Like the sea engulfing a sand castle and flooding it's moat, they break us open and allow wholeness to flow into us. That which causes us to suffer awakens us to the larger reality of ourselves. Symptoms push for our salvation by demanding of us love and calling for a growth towards wholeness. A practice of medicine that is attuned to this does not seek to cure, but acts like a midwife at a birth. Wetting our finger and putting it to the wind, listening for what is being called forth. Through love and attentive nurturing, we tend to these seeds inside us so that we may grow enough to offer up these gifts to that which is bigger than us. To the other, to the community, to the vast sea. In doing this we break open in Union. The unpleasant ragged and rude intruder that knocks on our doors may well be the kind soul that we are looking for. Keep the stove warm and the kettle always on in preparation.

Sheldon Solomon: Ernest Becker and The Denial of Death

Ive been pondering on Ernest Beckers ideas of death denial. In times of ideological turmoil such as this, his ideas give the clarity of standing back and looking at a bigger picture. As political events unfold and challenge our beliefs, we hold onto and fight to defend our ideologies with increasing viciousness. Here's the key bit for me. These ideologies and beliefs bring meaning and significance to our lives, and more importantly help to shelter us from the existential terror that we all work to keep at bay. In this way we are all in the same boat and are suffering the same burdens. The recent political events have amplified convictions on all sides, and as the means with which we grip into reality are threatened by others, we hold tighter and viciously defend our positions, to the detriment of the mutual ground we stand on. Maybe the brave step in this situation is to let a little bit more abyss into our lives and risk being afloat in the unknown to a greater degree. Here's a great intro talk on Ernest Beckers denial of death that has inspired me recently and seems to be poignantly relevant in the sea of fear and change of the times. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wBLLHZcA6j4

Grief and Praise part 1

Grief is at the heart of the renewal of life and death. It feeds our souls and and opens our hearts to the fullness and mystery of life. We live in a culture that has lost the art and rituals of grief. Grieving in our times has become a struggle and we are impoverished because of this. Martin Prechtel speaks here in inspirational, powerful and entertaining terms on the traditional place that grief takes Mayan culture.

Holistic ways of working understand that intelligent process is inherent in all things. Working in this way involves recognising and honouring the wisdom that is present and letting things unpack themselves. Whether this is the doctor prescribing bed rest (carving out the conditions to let the body carry out its natural healing processes), or it could be a counsellor following closely exactly what is going on in another, a gardener observing her garden with a keen eye and working to make the conditions right for flourishing.

You Can Fix Your Anxiety

http://www.youcanfixyouranxiety.com/ This is an incredible book that has personally helped transformed my life. I was lucky enough to read an early edition many years ago and felt an immediate relief as I realised that I had finally discovered all the tools I would need to live with my anxiety. Since then, my anxiety load has dropped massively, and better still, I feel equipped to deal with any further anxiety that life may bring. I can't recommend this book highly enough. We should live in a culture where the help and knowledge to live through tough times is close at hand, please share this to bring us a step closer to that.

Gardening and the Secret of Happiness

https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/02/29/robin-wall-kimmerer-braiding-sweetgrass/ Gardening - being dissolved into paradise!