Pathscrossing News

The Practice of Being Enough

I just finished my volunteer training this last weekend for Shanti, a Multi-faith program.The program provides “free emotional support for people affected by HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life-threatening illnesses.”

I originally submitted my application as a volunteer to deepen my spiritual practice, to someday be formally in a position of providing end-of-life care. Before attending the training, I knew from my orientation interview that being a volunteer meant learning how to be present to the individual’s grief, loss, and helplessness without trying to fix or solve anything for them. When I began the training, I carried that expectation with me, to learn how to not feel that I needed to have an answer. When I finished the training, I had opportunities to learn and practice those skills, but more importantly, I came face-to-face with my underlying beliefs.

Here’s the bottom line, for me: every time I say to myself, “I’m insecure” as a rationale for not doing something, what I’m really saying is that “I’m giving myself a reason, an excuse for being that way.” In my case, it expands to mean that it’s okay for me to not like myself, to feel less than adequate, to not be good enough, to not, to not, to not. Even though it’s what I honestly feel, here’s what happens: my judgment of myself means that it’s something I need to fix, and that means that I need to do something to fix it. If it gets fixed, then it reinforce the idea that I need to be fixed, but if it doesn’t then, it’s a failed effort, and I end up right back where I started.

As a volunteer, this has it’s downside. The more I try to find fixes for myself, the easier it has gotten to also provide fixes to everyone else, too. And, as I learned in volunteer training, that’s not what the individual is seeking, they only want support, no fixes. If you get on the fix-it side of the conversation, then in between the words what you end up saying is, “you’re not okay, you need to be fixed.” That’s not compassion, at least not the kind of compassion I want to demonstrate.

So, what’s the fix to the not fixing? For now, I’m going to try to just say “I am enough.” I’m hoping that it’ll short-circuit the thinking that something needs to be fixed. I’m hoping that it’ll be enough so that I can just accept what is, without any rationalization, without any notion of what should have happened or what could have happened. All that goes out the window! All of it!

As a result, here’s what I hope happens. I am enough gives me acceptance of myself and the situation. It derails the fix-it thought train. Instead, I am left with being understanding and I cripple the excuse for rationalizing and justifying my negative biases about why I act the way I do. Instead, I accept the situation, accept myself, and just move on.

I didn’t expect to realize this type of insight for myself in volunteer training. Now that I have, I realize that the opportunity that I have to spend with whomever I am matched will be a tremendous gift for me to practice being enough, and hopefully from that place, I will be able to have a supportive presence for the individual, and maybe, just maybe, they, too . . . (I almost wrote something that suggested that they needed to be fixed.) Ha! Got me! To practice being enough. That’s enough.

Being Non-Judgmental Begins with Self

Today was my first day of hospice volunteer training with Shanti, Multifaith Works. I found Multifaith through an internet search of local hospice volunteer programs in the Seattle area.

After submitting my application, I was invited to an orientation interview with Robert, Program Director, and Molly, Volunteer Coordinator on September 6. This is my journal entry on September 7:

Yesterday, I had an interview with Multifaith to be a Shanti volunteer, providing end of life care, to deepen my practice as I move towards becoming a Buddhist Chaplain. They spoke of how most situations it is more about individuals who are experiencing loss and grief, about being present to them, without judgment, without asserting my own expectations and needs, without trying to solve or fix anything, but just being emotionally present. I sense that this will teach me, will give me the opportunity to learn to just be present, with love.

Even though it was only the first day, I was quickly awakened to what I had written. You see, through a variety of exercises, I was able to consider what my response would be to a Shanti-partner, an individual who had requested support from Shanti. As I sat through those exercises, I heard myself on a few occasions jump to solution-oriented responses, rather than just simply paraphrase or reflect feelings. I feel like I’m trying to unlearn and relearn new ways of communicating.

After having so many years and years of learning how to fix problems, of having the next idea, or figuring out what to do, I’m now faced with a situation where that is my handicap. It makes me wonder about how much of “that type” of thinking has affected how I look at myself. If I see myself as someone that has something that needs attention, that needs to be fixed, and more importantly, how that has affected how I see others, that they, too, have something to be fixed.

I’ve had moments where I haven’t been so judgmental of myself, being a little kinder, a little gentler, more compassionate. When I’ve felt those moments, it’s also helped me to know what it feels like, making me realize how good it would be for others to feel that way, too. And so now, more often, I feel myself being less judgmental, less critical of others, just accepting things as they are, where there is no good or no bad.

I don’t know why it feels like it’s going to be so difficult in my training, or even anticipating the challenges of it with a Shanti-partner. Maybe it’s because I’m afraid I’ll make a mistake, that I’ll upset someone unknowingly. Funny thing though, it’s that fear of failure that makes me so judgmental of myself, of needing to “do it right.” But, that puts me right back on the treadmill again of needing to make sure that I have the right answers.

I guess the hard part of being non-judgmental is more about how I judge myself, first. For that, I don’t need to rely on hospice volunteer training, I can work on that from right where I’m at. Maybe that’s why I enjoy my zazen “sitting” meditation, because it’s just me, nobody else, just me. Just sitting with myself, when a thought appears, I let it go, without judgment. Now all I need to do is bring that in to my volunteer training, in to my practice exercises to be non-judgmental of my Shanti-parter, and maybe more importantly, myself.

More Spaciousness on the Outside, More on the Inside

Just returned last night from a 12 day trip in Pocatello, Idaho where I was helping to clear generations of stuff in my Uncle’s house so that he could move in to a smaller house or apartment. It’s a house that my Grandfather built. It’s where he and my grandmother, and my Uncle lived for many years. It was time for him to move, a time for letting go of his parent’s belongings, a time for deciding what was most important to keep, and what could be donated.

For me, it was a time to try to be understanding, a time to be of service, and as I learned, a time to learn how to breathe and relax with the time pressure of trying to finish nine large rooms in 12 days, besides working full-time during the week days.

I arrived on a Friday evening and even though I would be staying with a friend during the entire time, I went over to visit with my Uncle to get a sense of how to approach the entire effort. When I walked in, I was immediately overcome with the enormity of the task, of how much stuff there was and of how little space there was to easily move around. After my early morning meditation that Saturday morning, we began. It was a long day, maybe 12 hours, followed by another meditation the next morning, and another ten hours. By the end of the weekend, we had finished off two rooms and had some areas clear enough to organize items coming from the other rooms.

As the next few days followed, I began to feel a anxiousness in my morning meditations, wanting to cut them short, my mind at times distracted by what I needed to get done, with more thoughts and questions about how to finish the entire house, and what to do with everything that he wanted donated. I felt a noticeable difference in my mind-state. And so it continued for the next ten days. On several occasions, my tiredness convinced me to enjoy the bed, rather than my zafu, to sleep rather than to sit awake, to forget my breathing rather than to feel the beat of my heart.

By the end of the 12 days one thing was very obvious to me. When there are time pressures and demands to complete something within a specific time period, our mind takes over, becoming pre-occupied, calculating, adjusting and thinking about everything that needs to get done. All that thinking didn’t really change anything for me. There weren’t any thoughts or breakthrough ideas that helped me to do it better or faster. All they did was pre-occupy me, distract me from embracing and breathing in to the stillness that I was so accustomed to enjoying. Still, it was good to practice letting go of all those need-tos and wantas. It was good to learn to practice returning to my breath, to releasing myself, and to hearing the voice that says “not now, later.”

Maybe more importantly, as day ten arrived, my Uncle said he could feel himself returning to being more whole, and that he was happy. Maybe all those years of accumulated stuff congested his walking around the house, and now, all that space that was opened up in his house also gave him a glimpse into the inner sense of spaciousness and freedom. If we could all just get a taste of that, maybe it would be easier to give things up, to be less attached. Until we wrestle ourselves into letting go, we can never know what is on the other side, of what it feels to be uncumbered, of how spaciousness on the outside expands our feeling of spaciousness on the inside, and how that expansive emptiness within gives us the capacity to be available to so much more in our lives.

It's Enough

My partner Jan is a professional photographer. Before this he was a university professor, then a diplomat for the Czech Embassy. He gave up his career as a diplomat in order to have a green card that he won through the lottery so we could be together. As I returned to working for Boeing, he had the time to pursue his passion for photography. He never had any formal training in photography, even though he took a couple of classes at a local studio. Everything he learned through the simple process of taking pictures. Today, many would consider him accomplished. In fact, he is just getting ready to teach a course in photography at Eastern and Central European Studies, a part of the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts at Charles University.

I share this because it points to a situation where you don’t always have to have credentials, certificates, or degrees to do what you love.  Most of the time, it’s easy to default to the belief that in order to be a writer, you have to have a degree in writing, or at the least have taken some kind of class in writing.

As I begin to pursue my interests in providing end of life care, I too, realized that I don’t have to wait for some formal certificate.  So, I did some research on the internet to do volunteer hospice care, filled out an application with Shanti, part of Multifaith Works, was called for an informal interview a few weeks later, and will be attending training on October 18, 19 and 25, 26. It feels great to know that I don’t have to wait months and months, or longer, just to act on what I feel in my heart, to be with those who will appreciate a little time from me to share, to be heard, and to be hugged. For me, it’s enough just to be a volunteer.

Sometimes, maybe we think that we have to prove ourselves to somebody (or maybe one’s self) before believing that we’re good enough to be the person we sense. See if there is a way for you to be that person right now. You don’t need permission. You don’t have to know everything to begin. Just trust yourself. Take joy in acting from that place in your heart. Have patience. Be happy that you’re doing it. Sure, it may not be as good as you know it could be, but that doesn’t really matter does it? For now, it’s enough just to be doing something. It's enough.

Life Changes Me, My Work Changes, too

It's been over six months since my last post.

I launched the Art of Illumination. It surpassed my expectations, or rather, it felt like what participants discovered went beyond what they and I thought would happen. More about that project later.

As I was finishing that project, I also was graced with being with my father during the last week, the last day, and the last hours of his life. Until now, it is one of the most beautiful experiences I have had. It changed me.

Over 20 years ago, when Jim, my mother's husband, passed from leukemia at 46, I committed myself to doing what I love, being with someone I love, and living in a city that I loved. Check! Check! Check! 

Now, with the passing of my father, things have gotten stirred up again. It's really good.

Right before my father's passing, I was asked to become involved with a project at work, to help develop an online toolkit for first level managers, and to support the implementation of several new leadership programs for first level managers. This time, I committed myself to this project because of a deeper purpose. Every first level manager is a father and a son, or a mother and a daughter. They work hard, time spent at work that could be spent with their loved ones. If we could develop a toolkit and leadership program that could help them to do their jobs more efficiently, so that could have more time with their loved ones, then I felt that this project was important. Now, I'll never know for sure if that will happen. My father's passing helped me to realize this deeper purpose. Out of my love for my father, I poured my soul in to the project.

My role on this project is complete. In the months to come, you'll read more about how my work and my life is shifting and centering around something deeper, something closer to the universal principles of love, hope, courage, faith, beauty, trust, and peace.