I investigated a new dimension of living the word ‘physical’ today, by opening myself up to a greater appreciation and awareness of what the physical world is here showing. I approached it almost as an ‘asking’ where I began looking to nature, the trees and plants with an open inquisitiveness that allowed an awareness to emerge.
When looking at the trees by the highway today, what stood out was how straight and tall they were, despite being right next to a busy highway, and despite their environment being completely encroached upon by human beings, these trees were still standing tall and living as fully as they possibly could, considering their less than optimal conditions. What came through were the words ‘proud’ and ‘integrity’.
These trees were not victimizing themselves due to their circumstances. They were unmoved by their diminished environment, only thriving on what they had, using every resource to grow and to thrive.
Then I looked down and saw fallen trees, dead and decaying, and I got a different impression. There wasn’t the same pride and integrity coming through, but there was no sadness or death either. It was more of a dignified acquiescence of self to the next stage.
There was no superiority or inferiority between the young, proud, living trees and the old fallen ones. There was only what is, what was, and what will be.
Then I looked to the path in front of me, it was made of gravel and littered with twigs, leaves and rocks. Each and every single
item I could see had a history, had a place and a purpose here. It made me wonder why I sometimes feel like I don’t.
When I look at the question of ‘do I have a purpose here’, I realize that my physical body does not grapple with such issues. It is only my mind, my ego, my personality and the sense of self I have created over time that requires validation and a need for purpose.
Now, I can sit and be like a rock or a tree my whole life and do nothing except be satisfied and content with existing, but that is not what the physical is showing me. It is showing me that I can use every resource available to me to thrive, to reach my utmost potential, and to be a benefit and support in the little slice of reality within which I am an active participant.
The physical is an amazing example of the integrity, pride and self-validation (among MANY other things) that we are capable of being and existing as.
So far in my past two blogs I have been scripting a way for myself to learn from and work within and as the physical. But there is another dimension of awareness opening up for me where the physical is showing me so much about what it means to be alive, to be life, equal and one.
I will share a few more examples of this.
First is when I was on the bus, and it was mundane. I opened myself up and asked, what can I learn from the physical here? What opened up was how the bus moves from stop to stop, every day picking up people and bringing them to their different locations. For the first time, my judgment of taking the same bus day after day as being excruciatingly boring and irrelevant was altered, where I instead saw the job of the bus as something fulfilling and important.
It showed me about how I have been judging certain jobs or tasks as inferior, unimportant and dismissible. But the thing is, I have a tremendous dependency on the bus to get me to work every day, on time, day after day. In fact, entire cities depend very much on the transportation that vehicles provide, so that we can work and earn money, and so that everything we need can be delivered or picked up and brought to where it needs to be.
Upon a little self-reflection, I realized I have judged a lot of the work I have done as menial and unimportant, such as waitressing, cleaning, and processing payments at the bank day after day. What the bus showed me that day, is that everyone and everything has a role, and that you don’t have to be a super hero to be important. The janitor, waitress and trash collector are as important as the movie star, politician and doctor. Like the stones, everyone has a history, a purpose and a place. We just also have the opportunity to create a greater purpose for ourselves than what we were and are pre-programmed for. The physical is showing us how to program ourselves to exist in such a way that is equal to and one with everything and all that is here. It is showing us how to reach our utmost potential within whatever it is we do, and whatever our circumstances are.
This leads me to my second example.
I was again looking at a tree. The tree had lost a massive branch which left a giant wound in the bark and big empty hole in the shape of the branches of the tree. In this particular instance, I had been asking a question. I had been pursuing a certain path in my life, and I had learned that what I wanted to do would be practically impossible at this point in my life. What I thought I wanted proved to be something that, after researching extensively, turned out to be something different that I could see would not pan out. I was asking the physical, “what do I do now?”.
When I looked at the tree, the wound in the bark jumped out at me in a seemingly deliberate way. So I opened myself up. What I then saw were all the other branches. Big, sturdy substantial branches that were very healthy, and that had grown in different paths with very much success. What was shown was that, although the path I thought I wanted was cut off, I could still grow in every other direction with as much passion and vigour as I was putting into my failed plan. I simply had to chose a different direction, and keep pushing myself to grow and expand within whatever situation I found myself in. Becoming an opportunist, in a way, where I make the most of my given circumstances.
The tree did not stop and give up on life because it had lost one direction of growth. It simply kept on growing. It adapted and absorbed the loss and used that space to grow what it did have. It was a very comforting and eye-opening realization for me at a very difficult time in my life, and it came from simply becoming aware of the physical and how it functions and manages the challenges it faces.
My last example is similar but different, and came from a patch of wildflowers growing between a highway and an underpass. These flowers were surrounded by concrete and some were spilling over on to the sidewalk where they had been walked on and lay squashed and dying. It made me feel sad to see something bursting with life only to be walked on and squished like they were nothing.
So I stopped by the flowers and I asked “is it sad to live here only to be killed and die?” What I got from the flowers is that there is no death, or they see no death of themselves. Again, like the fallen trees, there are only different stages. It was like there was no concept of death, as I understood it, coming through from the flowers. There was no sadness, no fear, no loss, no pity for the fallen ones, only an obviousness that everything is okay, and a living vibrancy radiating from the ones remaining. The others have simply moved on to the next phase which is normal and expected. There is no reason not to thrive and burst with life as much as we can while we are here and we have the opportunity.
Now, I am not saying the flowers and trees and the bus in my examples were talking to me like a dialogue between people. But I am saying that we can learn so much from the physical if we simply slow down and observe, appreciate and apply a little self-reflection. For me, this is an awareness emerging, and it’s coming from me learning from the physical. I must admit, the wisdom that has come through seems to be from some outside source, because it was different from what I was thinking or feeling at the time. But as you can see from my writing, it is not some form of mystical communication, but rather an observation of the examples that are here, applied to my own life and situation at the time.
So I will add this to my process of re-defining and living the word physical, where the physical stands as an incredible teacher with so much to say and share. In my process of living my redefinition of the word physical, I am a humble student of life, with a willingness to be open to what life as the physical has to show me.
Thanks for reading!
My journey so far:
My Home, The Body Physical - Redefining and Living 'Physical' with SOUL
In the interim, check out this recording:
Redefining Physical (Part 2) - The Crucifixion of Jesus - Part 110 - "When you look at the physical reality are you really seeing the depth and practical nature of what is here, or are you only seeing your own judgments, opinions, and interpretations?
What does it really mean to see what is here and to take into consideration the life and substance of things in each moment?"