Awed To Be Alive – #237

Following this introductory paragraph will be a quote from Kathleen Dowling Singh that was featured today in Companioning the Dying’s weekly sharing.*

The picture of guardian you’ve seen before, sometimes covered with snow or frosted with flowers. Now decorated with autumn leaves, it seemed the perfect image to illustrate this quote. This author is a reflective writer; autumn is a reflective time for many of us. Reading Singh almost always initiates a journey into self.  

When I couldn’t manage to position the photo right side up, I thought, Ah Ha! my technical inadequacy adds another layer of meaning.

Here’s my thought: When we open up to what is, as Kathleen suggests, we may feel jolted out of our usual way of seeing ourselves and the world.

Here’s her quote:    

“As we deepen our understanding of the entire human journey, from conception through death, we deepen our capacity to live more fully and freely, awed by the fact that we are alive. We become different beings through the transformative power of our insight into the dying process. We become larger, more integrated, and somehow more real with this expansion of our horizons and remapping of our boundaries. We enter levels that allow our now deeper being to open to what is — giving and taking, in living and in dying, with fewer gimmicks and simpler truth, with less frivolity and more joy, with less suffering and more gratitude.”

Let me know when you feel jolted out of your usual way of being in the world and how you stay with it – because that’s what the experts say we need to do – stay with the feeling.

Thanks for exploring the mystery – Nicky Mendenhall

*Companioning the Dying: Opening Fully to Living info@companioningthedying.org