Tuesday for Equanimity

Tuesday is my day to look at my social and emotional self, make an effort to shift my perspectives around how I view and treat the people in my life, and get ready for a week of fun activities with my grandsons.

And today is Grandson #1's sixth birthday!

Agenda:

1. Read "Intrinsic Hope"

2. Expressing Needs in the World

3. New narrative for equanimity + Equanimity Practice

1. Read "Intrinsic Hope":

I'm finally getting back to this book by Kate Davies (2018), with the subtitle, Living courageously in troubled times. She talks about what she calls the global eco-social crisis, and how everything is interconnected: biodiversity loss, habitat destruction, climate disruption, invasive species, pollution, overpopulation, over harvesting, agricultural and lumber practices, housing and infrastructure, water scarcity, poverty, unemployment, fascism and racism - all the environmental problems and their social, cultural, and economic contexts.

"Hopelessness leads to paralysis and inaction, guaranteeing that things will continue to get worse. To stop this downward spiral, we urgently need to uncover a realistic sense of hope and find ways to nurture it." 

Chapter 2 is Reasons for Hope. "In this era of eco-social crisis, it is essential to base our hope on solid ground rather than wishful thinking or naive optimism." And then she lists out 10 reasons:

1. Life is inherently hopeful.
2. We have more information.
3. We can't predict the future.
4. We caused it so we might be able to solve it.
5. We are beginning to think globally.
6. We know positive social change is possible.
7. A growing global movement is demanding it.
8. Hope can be learned.
9. It is our responsibility to be hopeful.
10. What else can we do? 

"The cycle of life has gone on for time immemorial and will continue to do so. ... And even if some idiot drops a nuclear bomb or runaway climate disruption becomes a reality, life will go on with or without humankind. ... To live is to hope and to be hopeful is to be in harmony with life."

2. Expressing Needs in the World:

On Tuesdays I often go through this Ongo practice to define the Needs I want to express: 

1. Sit for a couple minutes and then invite in three questions, and write the answers in my journal

2. Consider each of these Needs, one at a time, and feel the surge of this energy in my body. 

3. Invite myself to take one action each day this week to express the energy of one of these Needs, or bring it alive in my relationships. Be sure it's done in the spirit of invitation, not demand, and that it is specific and doable.

4. After doing the action, be sure to take a minute to visualize the happiness or fulfillment I experience, and extend it out to all beings.  

• "If I knew this was the last week of my life, what is one Need or quality of life I'd like to be or express more fully?" 
• "What's one quality of life I'd like to contribute more to one of my relationships?"
• "Whats one quality of life I'd like to contribute more to my community?" 

The Needs that come to me today are Ease, Deep Sharing, and Inspiration. After sitting with the energy of these, I've listed some ideas for action:

• Equanimity: Practice my Zen Pause.  
• Deep communication / sharing: Try introducing worship sharing with W.
• Inspiration: Write two more pithy posts - make these more personal - and extend to new people every day.

3. New narrative for Equanimity + Equanimity Practice:

One of my weekly Creative Perspective tasks is to define a new narrative for equanimity - staying calm and patient with people and problems, not obsessed with any thought, and not acting with aggression or anger. 

"I will let the Light of Love shine through me, and BE calm, cool, and grounded."

Equanimity is a habit that requires love and self-control; it requires that you cut people slack and allow them to be imperfect; that you relax and let go of time anxiety; and that you acknowledge your impatience and irritation but don't act on them. It's powerful; it opens hearts. People feel liberated when you let them know that you are unruffled and in no hurry. Your patience is a gift to them, and will allow them to heal and grow.

And it's not only useful with in-the-moment situations, but also for grounded-ness in the face of world upheaval and fears about the future. Life is a rainbow of chaos, and equanimity is a super-power that will get you through.

I find it helpful to incorporate this practice I call my "Zen Pause" into my morning routine, in hopes that I will remember to use it when I really need it:

1. Plant your feet firmly on the earth (picture a mountain - be a mountain); name how you are feeling.
2. Touch your heart, and soften (relax your shoulders, slow your breathing); hold your feelings in love and light.
3. Touch your head, open your mind, and expand your thinking. Embrace the paradox of chaos and the still center.

"It's easy to continue, even after years of practice, to harden into a position of anger and indignation. However, if we can contact the vulnerability and rawness of resentment or rage or whatever it is, a bigger perspective can emerge. In the moment that we choose to abide with the energy instead of acting it out and repressing it, we are training in equanimity, in thinking bigger than right and wrong." –Pema Chodron