Redefining Beauty

It’s the ultimate in beauty really, but nearly impossible to define.

This weekend I went to a workshop called “The Gift of Presence” given by Shayla Wright.  It was my first workshop of this kind, and I’m still processing it.  It was like we were trying to get in touch with that place inside of us that experiences thoughts and feelings, then trying to communicate from that place as authentically as possible.  It meant dropping conditioned responses.  We were fortunate to have Shayla’s skilled, sensitive and intuitive guidance in such a vulnerable place.

Some of my notes:

“How do I relate to desire?  How do I invoke, ask for what I want in a clear and authentic way?”  We list all of our allies — from historic or public figures we respect and admire, to friends in our community, and to our most intimate relations; all those who support us in some way.  “I am willing to receive the help I need. I am willing to lay down my conditioned responses to this problem, and seek the treasure to be found in the most painful places.  I am willing to have a breakthrough in this area regardless of the results.  May I see what I need to see, hear what I need to hear, feel what I need to feel.”

This moment can only be the way it is.  Our experience depends on how we use our attention — a narrow or wide focus.

The place where your authentic “no” comes from is the place of your inner beloved.  There’s a place inside each of us that’s always alright, even in death.

Shayla said that in Sanskrit, opposites are contained in one word, so that love and hate, attraction and aversion, are each contained in a single word that contains both meanings.  Just imagine how a language like that would change our perceptions.  We were invited to invoke our bold vulnerability, our courage to truly be authentic in the safety of this space, and to let go of judgments.

We explored what it is we desire most deeply; our fear and resistance to it; our attachment to its opposite; and what we fear most about remaining without it — a very revealing exercise.  I confess to an epiphany about what I hide and why. (Maybe that’ll be another post, if I work up the courage.)

ALIVE! Naked awareness, nakedly seeing from within, beyond words.  Words are pointers only.  Discomfort: stay with it!  If you don’t it’ll limit your possibilities.  Profound intimacy with ourselves exactly as we are.  Value our open, empty, spacious selves.  Like a flash, we can heal like a flash.

********************

My thoughts afterwards, now two days later, wandered to a different way of knowing that our ancestors many generations ago probably had.  A sensitivity that we haven’t honoured for a long time and are trying to rediscover.  Beyond intuition, like the intelligence that created astrology or highly complex plant medicines.

I also felt there were parallels between what I was trying to grasp and what is conveyed in the book “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.  Here are some quotes taken from that story: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.”  “It is such a secret place, the land of tears.”  “What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.”  Beautiful phrases, but disjointed.  The real magic lies in the whole story.  Wholeness, integrity, the complete narrative.

As I sit in front of my laptop typing these words, my cats snuggled around me, I notice it’s late and the day’s been long.  Finish up here at the computer then dishes, bath, bed.  A being just being in this dot of time.  Presence is all we have; it is a true present if only we can allow ourselves to receive it now and then.

Tags: Gift of Presence, Little Prince, Shayla Wright