Live Learn and Get Unstuck
Posted by Robin Easton
NOTE To Readers: This week I’m very honored to be part of a collaborative exploration initiated by Gail Brenner at “A Flourishing Life”. Gail asked me and two other women to share our thoughts on “Getting Unstuck”. It has been a powerfully nurturing experience to work with these dynamic souls. Click on each name to read more about “Getting Unstuck”, and may your life always flow free like a mountain stream. Love, Robin (The bloggers are, moving clockwise from the upper right of the photo.)
- Gail Brenner – A Flourishing Life - “Getting Unstuck by Facing Everything”
- Robin Easton – Naked in Eden Blog - “Live Learn and Get Unstuck”
- Catrien Ross – Energy Doorways - “Getting Unstuck by Gently Letting Go”
- Tara Sophia Mohr – Wise Living - “Getting Unstuck”
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“I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge, you see all kinds of things you can’t see from the center.” ~ Kurt Vonnegut
Trust Life to Teach You
One of the hardest things for many of us to do is to trust our hearts, trust that we could know what is right for us. And if we don’t know, it can be hard for us to trust that we can learn “as we go”. Often we come to a fork in the road and need to choose between “this” or “that” in order to move on and not remain “stuck”, sometimes for years, or a lifetime. Many of us worry about making mistakes, being wrong. or hurting others or ourselves. We worry about regretting our choices. We want all the answers or at least some security before we act. Sometimes we have security and other times no matter how hard we try we can’t decide which fork to take.
I’ve noticed that in my culture (USA) we seem to turn obsessively to books, gurus, teachers, religion and more to find truth, to learn what is right for us. I think there is a place for these things, but often we use them to the exclusion of “learning through living”. Sometimes these things can even hinder our growth. I have found that the deepest most often remembered learning comes from an active experience.
Wisdom From A Deathbed
Someone I once loved told me this on his death bed. Don’t ever make the “search” your whole life. Make “active living” your life. With solid urgency in his voice he went on to say, “See the dozens of self-improvement books in that bookcase? I’ve read them all. And yes, they have some good ideas in them and plenty of wisdom, but it’s someone else’s wisdom. Although I’ve read them I still didn’t take any action. I came to a fork in the road and stayed stuck there, trying to find the answer to, ‘which fork I should take?’ It is only now that I am dying that I realize it didn’t matter which fork I took. What matters is that we dare to venture out and try one fork or the other. The right or wrong of it is not what’s most important. What’s really important is that we dare to live and learn.”
Firsthand Experience
I never forgot his words. I’ve found no faster way to learn about Life and myself than through firsthand experience. It’s take courage to make choices on our own as we listen to our hearts. Even if we can’t yet hear our hearts, we can still make the conscious choice to “try” something and be aware as we do it. Eventually we will hear our hearts and learn the right path for us, and we won’t forget it. We develop total body knowing. Just like the child who touches the hot burner; he never forgets it. With time we come to understand the importance of taking risks and not staying stuck, swimming in stagnant waters. We learn that sometimes we don’t “know” until we actively try something. We can’t possibly have all the answers and know everything. Life is a mystery and we are Life learning about Itself.
Many of us have forgotten the power of learning through active living, or trial and error. Some of us don’t even feel we have the right to learn this way. But none of us are born with a “Rules of Life” book attached to our hip that prepares us for every life situation. We come from the Great Unknown Universe and are born into this Earthly world. It just happens. We may have the social conditioning of our culture or the genetic imprint of our ancestors, of all Life, and some may believe we come with prior knowledge of other times, people and places. No matter what we believe we all are invited to make decisions during our time here on Earth. We are invited to grow and learn, and are given endless opportunity for both.
Wholeness and Discovery
Can we trust our wholeness enough to turn to ourselves? Can we embrace making mistakes, and then embrace the mistakes as treasures of learning? Can we give up our books (even for a time) so that our minds quiet and our hearts can be heard? Can we sometimes make choices as if we were the last person on Earth and had only ourselves to turn to? Can we be that bold? I believe so.
Trust yourself. Trust that you know more about YOU than anyone alive. Trust in Life’s wholeness. Life is too precious to waste. We owe no one perfection. But we do owe ourselves the right to unfold in our own unique way, and to fully embrace Life even in our unknowing. To not “know” doesn’t mean we are less whole. We ARE “Wholeness” continually on the brink of rediscovering ourselves.
My deepest regret would not be that I made mistakes. My deepest regret would be that I did not try something, that I did not live. So, live my dear sweet friends. Live like your life depends on it. It does.
Love,
Robin
- Gail Brenner – A Flourishing Life - “Getting Unstuck by Facing Everything”
- Robin Easton – Naked in Eden Blog - “Live Learn and Get Unstuck”
- Catrien Ross – Energy Doorways - “Getting Unstuck by Gently Letting Go”
- Tara Sophia Mohr – Wise Living - “Getting Unstuck”
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This Site: © Robin Easton
Website: http://www.nakedineden.com
Blog:http://nakedineden.com/nakedinedenblog/
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64 Comments so far...
Zeenat{Positive Provocations} Says:
20 April 2010 at 6:33 am.
Oh My dear Robin,
I have been in the stuck position for far too long. But when i did realize the pain of being alive instead of the joy of living….I knew I had to do something about it.
In that moment, there was a major shift. Major! Everything opened up…and suddenly I became a sponge…I started taking everything in….and learning. Evolving. Becoming.
Its amazing how much we learn once we are truly on the edge! The excitement and rush of that lesson keeps you going at lightning speed.
Thank you again for introducing me to such wonderful powerful bloggers. I am going to be off and read their thoughts on this topic. And this is so much fun…collaborative posts. WOW! Four times the inspiration and love 
I Love you loads my soul sister …for so openly sharing your beautiful heart and your enlightening wisdom.
Much Love,
Z~
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Tess The Bold LIfe Says:
20 April 2010 at 6:43 am.
Robin,
I love the sentence, “we owe no one perfection.” As a mother I will stand up and shout from my soap box to all adult chilren of the world that are feeling victimized…We never owed you perfectionn! If I had any regrets in life it would be my young parenting years.
But I don’t have regrets because when I wanted to run I stayed, when I wanted to give up I kept going and when I desperately felt like ending my life I got help.
I’m not sure about all parents but for me I’m betting 95% plus gave it their best. Our best isn’t ever good enough for children unwilling to forgive. One of my four daughters to this day doesn’t want a relationship with me. I have accepted it may never happen and that is her right.
This is why that line touched me “We don’t owe anyone perfection.” And if anyone wonders why I’m happy to tell them BECAUSE THERE IS NO SUCH THING! We don’t have to be perfect parents only, “good enough.” Because good enough is possible;)
I think I just inspired myself to at least do an article on this and possibly a book.
[Reply]
Robin Easton Reply:
April 20th, 2010 at 8:35 pm
Dearest Tess, this is SUCH an empowering sharing. Wow!! I read this and felt SO proud of you, so honored. It made me want to hug you and jump up and down and shout YES!!!
This line just blew me away: “As a mother I will stand up and shout from my soap box to all adult children of the world that are feeling victimized…We never owed you perfection!”
Wow and double Wow! You are the first person other than myself whom I’ve ever heard say this. I don’t have kids, however, I feel this way about my own parents, about parenting in general. I cannot tell you how much good it did me to hear this. I can think of so many adults that need to let this really sink in. I actually write about this in my second book that I am working on.
I am so excited to read your thoughts here. They are honest, gutsy and something that is almost NEVER heard in my culture (USA). I read it and just felt like, “Finally some truth. Some boundaries. A solid stand. Something real.”
I love this line too: “Our best isn’t ever good enough for children unwilling to forgive.” in my culture even a child’s inability to forgive is often blamed on the parents. I think all souls have to come to grips with whether they are going to be responsible for their lives or not. I think it is one of the CORE BOTTOM LINE decisions that souls (each of us) have to make. Are we going to “live” or not. And I don’t mean that we may want to kill ourselves or commit suicide. I mean are we going to make a full-on commitment to life…no matter WHAT is thrown at us? Jeepers, people who were in concentration camps did this. They forgave. They loved and let go. Wow! If someone in that situation can do it most of us can. Are we going to decide to take full responsibility for their lives and realize, that we get what we get and now where do we want to go from here?
It doesn’t mean we can’t express our pain, loss or anger, etc. It means if we go through our lives blaming and not forgiving we have abandoned OURSELVES. We have not chosen Life. We have not taken all that we got and used both the good and bad and learned and grown from it.
This is one of those bottom line and often seemingly harsh realities of life, but once we embrace it our whole life blossoms. AND you are actually giving a gift to your daughter by setting a solid boundary and not going into pity and shame and slinking away like a whipped dog with your tail between your legs. Not that we can’t admit our mistakes and so on, but when we do the whipped dog thing we actually can enable another person we love and confirm for them that they have the right blame and shame and never forgive. It’s not a loving act when we confirm for them that we aren’t worthy of being loved and forgiven EVEN IN OUR MISTAKES! We confirm for them that we “should” have been perfect and weren’t. There is no such thing. I feel that perfect IS our imperfection. In other words perfection is the WHOLE picture all of it, our mistakes, our humanity, our supposed failings, not knowings, etc.
Wow! I cannot tell you how much this moved me and inspired me. It is something that I have lived in my life with my own parents and I grew to love them for ALL of what they were/are and in doing so the love has continued even beyond death and they and I continue to grow in new ways. I feel them with me loving me and I them. All is forgiven and insignificant in the face of embracing our humanity. I love you deeply and am moved to tears over the gift you have given me. Robin
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Tess The Bold LIfe Says:
20 April 2010 at 6:46 am.
One more thing my lovely friend. Thanks for the motivation, inspiration and unending wisdom for my journey home. xo Tess
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Getting Unstuck « Wise Living Says:
20 April 2010 at 7:36 am.
[...] Robin Easton from Naked in Eden (upper right) [...]
Larry McDowell Says:
20 April 2010 at 7:43 am.
Robin,
Your words ring true. I am doing my best to let life teach me but that entails a little faith on my part and the ability to accept the unknown. That is scary for me but I find that the more I embrace it, the easier it gets. Life’s lessons are truly a gift and I want to have me eyes wide open to learn all I can.
All my best,
Larry
[Reply]
Robin Easton Reply:
April 21st, 2010 at 6:24 am
Dear Larry, it is such a treat to see you here. It always is. I was just at your Facebook page the other day and love the photo there of you. You looked very vibrant and alive. It made me smile. So does your comment here because your words are brave and true. Earnest.
You’ve mentioned something here that I have found really important, which is: “I am doing my best to let life teach me, but that entails a little faith on my part and the ability to accept the unknown.” I love those words because, yes, I think being open to letting life teach us is very much an act of faith, maybe one of the biggest acts of faith we can take. We are called upon to trust in the wholeness of Life, and the wholeness of our being, even with all our supposed imperfections. We may not feel whole, but I have discovered that we already are whole, but may not yet know that. So once we do step off into the known, it eventually can feel VERY familiar, as if we have always known it.
The other part of that line is equally as important: “accept the unknown.” Yes!! I think if we can accept that the “Unknown” IS part of life and not something to be got rid of or to avoid, it can make it much easier to move forward. Especially if we add in the awareness that it takes courage to live. That we are in fact very brave.
I am touched by your openness here Larry and relate strongly to your desire to have your eyes wide open so as to learn. I applaud and encourage you from my heart. Thank you my dear friend for visiting and sharing your insights. It means much. Hugs, Robin
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marcel lemieux Says:
20 April 2010 at 8:05 am.
A very lovely post my friend..i have taken time to read articles of Gail Brenner, Catrien Ross and of Tara Sophia Mohr..each one has a beautiful unique touch and approach to life and some wise reminders..As for your writings (Robin) they resonate as my own words many times.
Many are on a spectacular journey but they just don,t see it, others may pull back a bit to let some of it blend in, but as you are saying in the end just live your life as best you can. Introspection is fine, but it can burn one out if the timing is off..one has to take in consideration where he or she is at in life and age/time /experience/maturity play a role here..
I remember times where i was very high and ecstatic and my vibration rate was up the roof, then slowly i would balance it out…i learned that it not because you made changes that the world around you did..at first it was shocking then i realized that i was the one wanting to grow and to know, not them…
We can talk to folks taking in consideration of where they are at..why talk about the beauty of all the universe to an accountant who sees numbers as his reality and then maybe he could count the planets and say someday omg! and see all that is in him…
to take time for oneself, to be still, to really look around is like poetry, a painting, a jewel you are re-discovering..(this act can be instant, right now) life is life and that energy is totally awesome and it will always be there..i too once read books and was a living/walking library. One day a wise man said to me, the book you have not yet read is your own, the one about you and your life beauty and wonders….
We are all unique and beautiful even when at times we forget to see it…What walks peoples take to grow is a personal matter and none are bad, they are stepping stones to something else…but one can also splash his face with the cool waters of a river or a stroll in the sunlight of the day or have a picnic in a beautiful park and listen to the sounds (wind blowing in the trees, laughter of children, birds singing). All that can be healing, its in the way you see things….have a lovely day..peace.Marcel
[Reply]
Robin Easton Reply:
April 21st, 2010 at 6:41 am
Dear Marcel, Your sentiments here are, as always, so very beautiful, deeply compassionate and expansive. Expansive not only in your compassion for all, but in your ability to see all paths a valid paths of learning. And how the paths we all walk are filled with the lessons and experiences we need to grow. Life is perfect.
I love what your wise man told you: “…the book you have not yet read is your own, the one about you and your life beauty and wonders…” Yes, we each have a “book” that is the story of our self discovery and although we may have similarities, we each have our own unique life story to experience. I find that so beautiful; we are billions in our numbers, and yet we each are such a unique expression of life. Beautiful.
I also just adore what you wrote when you said: “…but one can also splash his face with the cool waters of a river or a stroll in the sunlight of the day or have a picnic in a beautiful park and listen to the sounds (wind blowing in the trees, laughter of children, birds singing). All that can be healing, its in the way you see things….”
Yes, all around us every single moment there is peace and beauty to be seen, touched, smelled, felt, heard and tasted. We are swimming in a sea of beauty. I am not saying that we do not ever experience hardship or pain. I am just saying that there is also beauty and peace all around us. People who have gone through horrendous suffering have found ways to focus on beauty and love. The human spirit is astounding. I think ALL life whether human or not is astounding, tenacious, courageous and miraculous. I am always made richer by your sharings, dear Marcel. You are indeed a wise soul. You have lived deeply and that depth is reflected in your shared wisdom. Hugs, Robin
[Reply]
Getting Unstuck by Facing Everything | A Flourishing Life Says:
20 April 2010 at 8:17 am.
[...] Robin Easton at Naked in Eden Blog [...]
Gail @ A Flourishing Life Says:
20 April 2010 at 8:27 am.
Robin,
You are such a dear friend, and you speak the words of truth so clearly. I also see so much seeking, hoping, trying among people who just want to feel better. It is the rare few who actually stop and bring these teaching into their own lives as a moment-by-moment existence.
Actually, I don’t really understand this phenomenon – the seeking being valued more than the finding. But I do know that inner discoveries are endlessly fulfilling.
Much love to you…
[Reply]
Robin Easton Reply:
April 21st, 2010 at 7:17 am
Dearest Gail, I am not only honored to have you here, but this last week with all four of us “girls” organizing this project was pure joy, full of sisterhood, laughter and love. It was glorious. I am grateful to you more than I can express. I loved every time when you wrote and said, “I laughed and laughed over…(whatever).” That just made my day because we were laughing over the same things. I can see we have a similar sense of humor. There is so much delight in laughing over our humanity. So much humor is often contrived. when all around us are hundreds of little things that really are so funny. It was a fun discovery to see that you are aware on that level as well. I took GREAT pleasure in feeling your laughter, even though we weren’t even in the same room.
Also, when you wrote: “It is the rare few who actually stop and bring these teaching into their own lives as a moment-by-moment existence.” For an instant I saw this in a whole new way, or rather a deeper way. I’m not even sure that I can put it into words, as it came and went so fast. But I think what I saw was that if we can keep our minds occupied with the “thoughts” or “concepts” of growth, we don’t have be here, right now. We don’t have to feel, experience, sense, be left with ourselves. Selves that we’ve often neglected for so long, sometimes our whole lives, that we don’t even know who we are. We don’t even know where to begin…even though we may have read dozens of books. And for many of us no matter how many books we read nothing prepares us for that initial stepping off into unfamiliar territory. So the thought of being without our concepts or teachings is a kin to being dumped into the middle of the Pacific Ocean and left there alone and not knowing how to swim. But if we start at the shore and keep testing the waters eventually we do learn to swim.
I think books, teachings and guidance can be useful and as someone said here, point the way, but ultimately we must experience life to know life, to know ourselves.
Thank you beautiful soul for all the love and friendship you have given to openly, generously and wisely. Yes, Much love to you. Robin
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Jonathan - Advanced Life Skills Says:
20 April 2010 at 8:29 am.
Hello Robin, Gail, Catrien, and Tara,
First and foremost let me just say WOW. How inspiring to have your combined energy to bask in. The article and lesson are so valuable, life is indeed for living. No amount of insight or knowledge can take the place of participation.
That said, let me go back and reiterate my opening response: WOW, and thank you one and all.
[Reply]
Robin Easton Reply:
April 21st, 2010 at 7:22 am
Dear Jonathan, Thank you for your warm and contagious encouragement for all four of us women. It is so appreciated. I enjoyed following your comments on the various “unstuck” posts. I know that you are one who understands, firsthand, the value in learning from active participation in life. You have done much of this in your life and it is what makes you so naturally wise and alive. It is the energy that picked up in your writing the first day I went to your blog. You have BECOME the life you were willing to embrace and live. That is really something to see. Thank you my dear friend for all your support and encouragement. Hugs, Robin
[Reply]
Tara Mohr Says:
20 April 2010 at 8:50 am.
Robin,
I’ve read this a few times now and still feel like I’ve just skimmed the surface, because there are so many important questions, evocative words, and lines that stand on their own as meditations.
Our own lived experience and the learnings we gain from it are the way. To me, that is the path. Gurus and books are there to add inspiration, to help us sometimes frame experiences, to provide stimulating ideas….but they are the support in the wings of the theater. What happens on the stage of our lives is what really matters.
I’m struck by your point about moving forward even when we don’t know, knowing that in action, in movement, our heart’s truth will become clear. For me it takes real discernment to know when I need to hold out for the thing that feels right…and when to trust that the right thing will unfold as I move forward.
Today I’m going to hold with me and think about two lines that particularly captivated me…
“Some of us feel we don’t even have the right to learn this way” (so interesting, and strikes a chord in me) and “Can we sometimes make choices as if we were the last person on Earth and had only ourselves to turn to?” How beautiful.
Love,
Tara
[Reply]
Robin Easton Reply:
April 21st, 2010 at 8:03 am
Dear Tara, I am moved by your kind and thoughtful words. I think you have expressed very beautifully the distinction between active participation in life vs ONLY reading about life. You wrote: “Our own lived experience and the learnings we gain from it are the way. To me, that is the path. Gurus and books are there to add inspiration, to help us sometimes frame experiences, to provide stimulating ideas….but they are the support in the wings of the theater. What happens on the stage of our lives is what really matters.” I found this very beautiful and clear. Your theater analogy is perfect and gave me a very clear picture of how this works. I agree.
I also like your comment on “holding out for what feels right” vs “the right thing unfolding as we move forward”. And sometimes they can happen at the same time. I think when someone is floundering we can test both those avenues, but when we remain stuck for years or even months we might want to try something different. I agree that there can be times we just need to “be with” the unease and as Gail said in her post, simply feel into the unease as opposed to focusing on trying to make it go away or change it or fix it or “do” something about it. It can at times feel like a balancing act and probably is, but in the end I think it is probably all perfect and that we can relax and let life happen no matter what we do or don’t do. The trick is to let ourselves simply be aware no matter WHAT is happening or WHAT we decide, then we WILL learn. And like Larry said up above have an element of faith.
When I used to be in this place when I much younger, I would say something like this, “Okay Life, right now I am not clear at all as to what I need to do, so I am going to simply let go for now and if there is something I need to see, know or do, I want you to make it SO clear and SO in my face that I can’t possibly miss it. I can HONESTLY say that this worked for me every time. Shortly after doing this something would happen in my life that was just waaaay to big to not be seen or understood. And when I would say it I would also say, “If you do this for me, I promise I will act on it. And I know you will give me the courage to do so.” And then I would simply give heartfelt thanks and let go. Most days now I know what I need to do, which probably just comes with age and a heck of a lot living, but I still use this method if I need to and it still works.
Dear Tara in your last paragraph you picked out the two of my favorite phrases from this post and from my life. The first: “Some of us feel we don’t even have the right to learn this way†was a HUGE awakening aah huh moment in my mid twenties. Seeing it allowed me to take back my birthright, my humanity: to learn through active living, The second one: “Can we sometimes make choices as if we were the last person on Earth and had only ourselves to turn to?†That set me FREE!! This is one of the most empowering choices/tools I ever made/used. For me it not only set me free but it forged my whole life, my uniqueness, my wisdom, and more. It gave me the Universe in the palm of my hand. I BECAME Life. I really don’t have more words for it, but am writing some about it in my second book.
It has been an utter delight to meet you and start to know you through this “wise woman” project. Your soul shines so much love and light. You are a fresh and light breeze to take in. Such a JOY!! Love, Robin
[Reply]
OneStonedCrow Says:
20 April 2010 at 10:29 am.
Hello Robin … it’s been great catching up with you again after a long period off-line …
… the words of of your friend on his deathbed struck a chord in me because I long ago gave up on ‘searching for myself’ – I realized that I never was ‘lost’ in the first place … strange concepts we had in the 60′s hey? …
… and as for self-help books, religion and gurus … I follow no guru but the Guru Within …
[Reply]
Robin Easton Reply:
April 21st, 2010 at 9:50 am
Hey my dear friend. I was just at your site yesterday. Your photos are ASTOUNDING!! I was looking back though your posts. Your site is hypnotic in that it holds me fascinated. You have a magic for seeing the most astounding things in life, from the wildlife, to the magnificent old rusted automobiles, to the goat tower, to the weevil that lays on it’s side and plays dead, to the Sociable Weaver bird who builds those remarkable colony nests and more. I become transfixed. I hope you will show photos from the crocodile farm when you have time to sort through all your photos from up north. You are a very gifted photographer, but it’s more than that you are exceedingly CREATIVE!!
I loved your line: “…as for self-help books, religion and gurus … I follow no guru but the Guru Within…” Yes, I’ve always sensed this about you and resonate strongly with it. I too follow the guru within, the guru I was born with. Thank you my friend. You very appreciated. Hugs, Robin
PS Your blog is absolutely fascinating. I am posting its link here again for others to take a look:
NOTE TO READERS: If you love travel, advneture, learning about other culutres, ways of life, and amazing photography check out: http://onestonedcrow.blogspot.com/
[Reply]
OneStonedCrow Reply:
April 21st, 2010 at 1:35 pm
Thank you Robin … I appreciate your comments, … you inspire me to continue blogging …
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The Exception Says:
20 April 2010 at 11:07 am.
Thank you for sharing this. I have shared it with several others as the sentiment expressed both through you and through the experience you relate are a reflection of the ideas by which I attempt to live and model for my daughter.
Having spent the last few years of my life treading water, despite the reasons, I have come a long way in the last year – coming unstuck, remembering myself though I didn’t realize that I had locked a piece of me away, and remembering to live fully and embrace life. One of the blessings of life, for me, is that not knowing, the learning along the way, and the feeling that life is full of choices – I can change things if I want. Trusting myself isn’t always easy especially when facing the strength of another’s denial… and yet truth lies within.
Thank you for this writing and the efforts of each of you.
[Reply]
Robin Easton Reply:
April 21st, 2010 at 10:05 am
Dear “Exceptional” Your sharing here is so beautiful in its raw honesty and sincerity. It touched me very much. I love how you are aware that your actions affect others and that you want to model certain ways of living to your daughter. That is beautiful and reflects not only your aware and thoughtful nature, but your love of your daughter.
I am proud of you and my heart sings when you say you are remembering yourself. That is SUCH an uplifting and free-ing experience. I’m not sure there is anything like it, that sense of “re-membering” ourselves, going home to who we really are and always knew we were…somewhere inside. I don’t think there is anything as powerful as really being our authentic selves and in our right place.
I also just LOVE your words: “I can change things if I want.” I think that is one of the most basic and simple things that is often overlooked. We CAN change our minds. We are often taught that once we make a decision we better stick to it. No. That’s not the way of Life. Life is forever shifting, adapting, balancing and aligning it self with what is true, with that which contains the least resistance and flows freely, aligning itself with Love and Peace. So YES, we CAN change our minds.
I encourage you keep walking the brave path that you have chosen to walk. Your heart is good and true. I feel that in all your writings on your blog. My whole body responds to your innate truth when I read your words. Thank YOU for sharing your heartfelt wisdom. Hugs, Robin
[Reply]
Trish Scott Says:
20 April 2010 at 12:59 pm.
Whole body knowing. You are the first I have seen mention this – besides myself of course . This is so vital! Our bodies are antennas, perfectly tuned to awaken us to danger, the good stuff and the reality of situations, yet few use this attribute consciously. Partly it’s not understood because with western diet and sedentary life style we have dulled the body and it’s intelligence beyond usefulness and no longer notice body intelligence is an option for humans. Partly it just isn’t a concept that would be considered serious enough to study. I suppose it is studied in animals but humans? And as you know, we have to study stuff for decades and write 200 learned articles and books about it, for it to be taken at all seriously. It is a concept though that I do my best to pass along in my AC Course. I find body knowing essential in understanding whether a communication from an animal or nature is real or just a figment of imagination. The body knows. The mind is just unbelieving and confused about anything with which it is unfamiliar. So of course you can’t just sit around and read about life and enlightenment – you have to dive in and give life a go. That’s just how we are built. That’s the whole point of having a body! Such fun if we just go!
Love this post Robin. Lovelovelove, Trish
[Reply]
Robin Easton Reply:
April 21st, 2010 at 10:52 am
Dearest Trish, I am SO excited that you too understand “whole body knowing”. I’ve noticed that people mostly talk about consciousness in relation to the MIND, but rarely the body. As if our bodies were some slug-like thing merely attached to this brilliant (or not so brilliant mind). I think a part of this is a result of our disconnection from the living world around us, our disconnection from Earth, trees, plants and other species of animals. I’m not really sure what “the mind” is. People tend to speak of it as something other than our whole being (including the body). Every day I give thanks for the brilliance of my highly intelligent body….for ALL of me.
I soooo agree with your reasons for why we have lost our connection to our built in body intelligence. The culture I live in goes to great extremes to numb and remove themselves from a “whole body awareness” or whole body knowing. I became VERY aware of “body knowing” and intelligene in the rainforest. Just as you say, it is what allowed me to hear and communicate with other species. I had to get out of what, I think, people call the mind and back into myself, my body, my whole being. I am not a brain and a body, a mind and a body. I am ALL of ME.
When I hear people say, “It’s all in the mind”, I have no concept of what that even means. And yet I see a whole movement out there that is solely mind based. The reason your comment excites me SO much is that I respond, choose, act, love, feel, decide and live with my WHOLE being. Things are not separated for me. I know you understand well what I am saying as I’ve seen this “whole connection” in you and the work you do and in your writing. I find it highly stimulating, exciting, energetic and healing.
Animals respond to you because they too feel exactly what I feel, someone who REALLY is present, fully right there with them. They can sense the opening and know that they are being seen and heard. Little kids also respond to this kind of whole body knowing in adults when they run across it. They get excited and EAGERLY want to connect, because they know they are dealing with someone who is experiencing life on their level. I think our disconnection from whole body knowing is what makes it SO hard for the human animal to see the high level of intelligence in other species. We tend to see them as less than us, as more base, simplistic. Sometime it would be cool to have you do a guest post on this. Or we could do a tag team post on it or an interview with you. I’ll have to mull that one over some more.
I am so so grateful that you shared this truly brilliant insight and “knowing” that is SUCH a part of who you are. No wait… it IS who you are. I believe it is who we ALL are. It’s just a matter of us remembering who we already are. We need only remember…as you say: “…you can’t just sit around and read about life and enlightenment – you have to dive in and give life a go. That’s just how we are built. That’s the whole point of having a body! Such fun if we just go!”
Thank you my dear brilliant Trish. It is a HUGE gift to have you here. I thrill at just knowing you are in the world. You reflect back to me SO much of myself. Much love to you, Robin
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Bernie ~ Sea Otter Says:
20 April 2010 at 1:53 pm.
The world is truly lost in Knowledge and appears deluded by knowingness. We string facts together and tell a story. We drop a few facts for what appears to be new facts and a new story arises…and people then get hooked on the newest story. But it isn’t their story they are telling. Knowledge and information from books may come from an individual truth of another person who may have used their personal genius to feel their relationship to the Moment of their time. It was perfect because they were true to what they were sensing, not based on the facts of the past, but what they were sensing and resonating with in the Now in relationship to the enivornment they are projecting from within.
When we truly learn to LIVE, we communicate and merge and dance with anything that attracts our attention. The thoughts that then come from such a unique experience are inspiration where One has connected with Spirit. We then feel brand new and are born again, where our next thoughts are a product of the moment, or, we do not think at all, and exchange that which wishes to be shared.
Greetings and Love to you Robin from the Appalachian Trail.
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Robin Easton Reply:
April 21st, 2010 at 11:12 am
Dearest Bernie, It is a TREEEEEAT to see you here. To feel your wonderful energy and be connected. I just love so many sentiments here and your opening lines ROCK! This line touches my core: “…and people then get hooked on the newest story. But it isn’t their story they are telling.” That is soooooo beautiful and I think one of the deepest hungers we can have is to experience and tell our OWN story. We all want to be heard, seen and loved and what better way to do this than to experience life and share our stories. And it is ONLY our story. Others may relate to aspects of it, maybe all of it, but they still have to “experience” their OWN story to EXPERIENCE who they are. We each need our own intimate relationship with Life.
Something I consciously chose to do many years ago in the rainforest was shed as much “conditioning” as I possibly could recognize, which is easy to do in the wild. I liberally gave myself free reign to explore any and all possibilities, experiences, hungers, dreams, thoughts, emotions and more. It was one WILD ecstatic ride, out of the box, into nothing-ness, into everything-ness, and still is.
Ever since then, there is little I can find in a book, including my own LOL! (I’m serious), that even comes close to diving full-on into Life, experiencing as much life as I possibly can. Because even my book was written, as you say, from a moment in time, it was ME in THAT moment and came out as an impassioned compelling expression, and now I am in THIS moment, and now in THIS moment. In fact, so in THIS moment that there is little before and little after.
I am, as you say so bounteously, dancing through life captivated by what attracts my attention in this moment. Oh dearest Bernie, yes, to live in this joyous spontaneous way, we ARE born again and again. Life is ALWAYS new!!! Life is ALWAYS life-giving! Oh what a treasure you are, my precious friend. Thank you SO much for seeing, living and being. I am with you each day on the trail. Much love to you, Robin — Hugging you and Stacey every day.
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Catrien Ross Says:
20 April 2010 at 3:03 pm.
Robin, Robin, what a beautiful, touching post. I am sitting here this early morning with tears in my eyes as I read and bird song in my ears as I write.
I respond with the whole of me to your words, and the wholeness of your writing vibrates in the core of me that knows and recognizes your truths. So much insight and wisdom, Robin, such personal honesty and the generosity of sharing the lessons learned. Thank you so much.
Your whole article sings to me, and I especially love your gift of this paragraph:
“Trust yourself. Trust that you know more about YOU than anyone alive. Trust in Life’s wholeness. Life is too precious to waste. We owe no one perfection. But we do owe ourselves the right to unfold in our own unique way, and to fully embrace Life even in our unknowing. To not “know†doesn’t mean we are less whole. We ARE “Wholeness†continually on the brink of rediscovering ourselves.”
This is so profound, so inspiring, so, so real. Tears come to my eyes again in joy of resonance.
You are such a beacon, Robin, lighted by love and personal knowing and authentic engagement and a walking in the now of your life. I feel so proud to say I know you, and love you, and call you friend.
Greetings and hugs to you from the mountains of Japan – Catrien Ross.
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Robin Easton Reply:
April 21st, 2010 at 3:27 pm
Dearest Catrien, I have read this comment several times because just reading it fills me so much love and joy. We are so kindred, and all of your sentiments here are filled with the rich essence of who you are. The thing that hits me over and over about you is your total willingness to be SO utterly open to life, open toward those souls you connect with. You hold nothing back and give of yourself freely and lovingly. In doing so you heal and soothe all you touch. Your words: “I respond with the whole of me to your words,…” completely portray how you respond to ALL of life. It is not merely your way; it’s who you ARE.
With such wisdom and rich heart as you have, you must have lived an amazing life, one full of “active living” and learning. To be seen by you is healing in itself. It is a treasured gift. One that stays with me through my days. I have so enjoy your beautiful soul-filled writing and all the interactions this last week. You are a truly great wise woman, one that I am profoundly honored to know. I find myself feeling very excited just knowing that you are in the world. I’m very serious about that. I too absolutely feel proud to know you. It’s a great honor to be included in your gracious circle. I love you and am grateful. Robin
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Robb Says:
20 April 2010 at 6:54 pm.
Kia ora Wild Sister,
As Van Morrison wrote ” No guru No Method, no Teacher, just you and I and Nature”! You know Robin, I sort of wandered in the dark for years now that I look back, and how I ended up here in my True Place with these boys and my wonderful wife, is sometimes beyond me. Almost as if an unseen hand was upon my shoulder the whole while. Then finding these mountains, rivers, streams and ridges and OPENING my eyes, and finding the strength to discover them on my own, to make the mistakes traveling amongst them yet learn from them and better myself. To let myself recieve the Gifts on offer to all of us there has been the greatest discovery of my time on this realm. It is safe for me to write that nature has become the metaphor for all I do out here. Those mountains call to me so strongly and I am seeing the vision in front of me of helping to reconnect others to the wild. What they find there is for them alone, and I begrudge no one their beliefs, their guru’s, their teachers, but beneath all our feet is the mostly solid Earth on which we all reside. There, for me, is the one thing that connects us all. The mistakes I have made along the way have also helped guide me here and the thought of standing quietly on a mountain ridge, or sitting by the river doing absolutely NOTHING is what is keeping me going right now. I am heading out the door on my crutches Wild Sister with a wide and wild smile upon my face! Rave on. Kia kaha.
Aroha,
Robb
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Robin Easton Reply:
April 21st, 2010 at 3:50 pm
Dearest Robb, My precious Wild Brother, this is such a genuine outpouring of heart. I am deeply moved by it and relate to soooo many aspects of it. I too think an unseen hand led me to the wild. I love this line of yours: “…nature has become the metaphor for all I do out here. Those mountains call to me so strongly…” Yes, I know this about you SOOOO well. You are Nature. Nature is you. It’s where you come to life and what you hunger for. I am the same. It’s who I now am. It’s actually who I always was, but I became disconnected from it growing up in my culture.
We humans are funny creatures. We all too often see nature only as scenery, only as a small facet of our lives, if at all, and then our real life is the society in which we live, our jobs, cars, computers, stores, restaurants, cell phones, TVs and so on. So when someone wants to spend all their time in/with nature they are often looked at as a loner, anti-social, an outcast, weird, eccentric, and so forth. And yet, I see “being in constant connection with Nature” as our natural state of being, but we have forgotten our connection to Nature so totally that Nature is now only a concept for most people.
I also just LOVE this line: “…I am seeing the vision in front of me of helping to reconnect others to the wild.” I too see Nature calling to you, to help others remember what they have forgotten. You are a master at this. Brilliantly passionate, blunt, compassionate, honest and genuine off the charts. I am close to Nature and I know how I feel when I read your words. I hunger for them. So those of us who are already close to her also need your words. And those who have forgotten also desperately need them, they just may not yet know it.
And this line is sooooo beautiful and profound. It stopped me in my tracks: “…I begrudge no one their beliefs, their guru’s, their teachers, but beneath all our feet is the mostly solid Earth on which we all reside. There, for me, is the one thing that connects us all.” YES!!!. This may sound so obvious and yet if we REALLY stop and let ourselves feel this, it is mind blowing.
I am so with you my dear friend. I think of you each day and know without doubt that you have a great path in front of you, both with your feet gently walking Mother Earth and your spirit walking on paths filled with many new discoveries of self and life. There is much to come for you. I’ve no doubt of this. I am with you, as you are with me. Your wild heart reminds me over and over who I really am. Bless you for that dear Robb. Yes, rave on Wild Brother. Aroha…always. Robin
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Angela Artemis Says:
20 April 2010 at 7:38 pm.
Robin, I came to find your blog through Catrien Ross’s today. I love hers so much. I found three beautiful new blogs today due to hers.
I really love this post. Aside from being a blogger, I’m also a medium so you can imagine my profound joy in reading your words below:
“Although I’ve read them I still didn’t take any action. I came to a fork in the road and stayed stuck there, trying to find the answer to ‘which fork I should take?’ It is only now that I am dying that I realize it didn’t matter which fork I took. What matters is that we dare to venture out and try one fork or the other. The right or wrong of it is not what’s most important. What’s really important is that we dare to live and learn.â€
This is the Truth. We are here for the experience. Period. To learn how to navigate the challenges that life throws at us and to grow from them – and get unstuck and move forward.
And, as your friend said it makes no matter what fork we take in the road. There is no judgment or right or wrong. All that matters is that we keep going and learning and living. It’s sad, as he said, that he only realized it at the end. We who are here now, should heed the words of your friend.
Thank you for this amazing post.
Most Sincerely,
Angela Artemis
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Robin Easton Reply:
April 22nd, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Dear Angela, Yes, I too love Catrien. She is a deeply gracious soul. I am so glad that you have found the new blogs and that we have found YOU!! A real treasure.
I am very intrigued by your site and your work and will come back to read more. Your writing is honest and moving. It is an honor to have you here and experience your ability to hone in on and embrace what is most important in life. Thank you for that. Thank you SO much.
I LOVED your words: “There is no judgment or right or wrong. All that matters is that we keep going and learning and living.” It is pure magic to hear this coming from you, to have this reflected back to me in such a matter of fact and honest way. Yes, we do need to heed the words of my friend. I knew them in my body as truth the moment he said them. Today Life is not something I take for granted. For me it is an infinitely, exquisitely precious gift.
I am touched by your depth and beauty, and moved that my own life experiences and humble sentiments touched your heart. I can honestly say that you have touched me profoundly as well, both here and in reading your insights on your blog. I love how open and passionate you are. Thank you dear Angela, Hugs, Robin
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Deborah Wall Says:
20 April 2010 at 8:10 pm.
Thank you for the inspiring post and reminder that I’m the only one having my experience and although others can add to me, I come as a complete package.
namaste
Deborah
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Robin Easton Reply:
April 22nd, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Dear Deborah, Thank you so much for stopping in. I love how you worded this: “I come as a complete package.” YES!!! Even though that is what this post is about, it did me good reading your words and hearing it said back to me.I got to experience the truth again. It felt so soothing and whole in my body. Bless you. Robin
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Lauren Says:
20 April 2010 at 8:59 pm.
Dearest Robin,
Joy and tears intermingled as I read your post that is filled with such depth and wisdom. You touched on so many significant areas for me. I love what the man whom you knew said on his death bed. A powerful reminder.
I love my books and my home is filled with them, but funny how I always choose with my heart. I have sometimes suffered for it. Would I change it? Never!
Your words about owing ourselves the right to fully embrace life even in our unknowing are beautiful. I shall carry them in my heart.
And I agree wholeheartedly, we are indeed life learning about itself.
You are so deeply profound and beautiful. I consider myself blessed to have found you.
I have had the wonderful pleasure of being in contact with Catrien as well and her post on Getting Unstuck knocked my socks off as well!
Looking forward to taking a look at the other lovely women pictured above.
Thank you so much, Robin, for being YOU. And, I now have your laughter in my mind’s eye when I think of you after watching the video of you laughing! I love it.
Warmest regards, Lauren
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Robin Easton Reply:
April 22nd, 2010 at 2:32 pm
Dearest Lauren, Oh you are such an alive soul. I see this ability in you to live so fully from your heart. It is in your writing and in the way you so openly love those around you. It is how you have treated me, with such love, vitality and warmth. You my girl, are an “experience”! You really are.
To be on the receiving end of who you are is nothing short of absolute pure joy. You came into my life with the unbridled joy of Life itself. I thought, “Wow, I have see who this astounding soul is.” So the blessing is mutual.
Yes, Catrien’s post knocked my socks off as well. She is very kindred isn’t she?!! She is a soul our hearts find great peace and beauty in, find a reflection of ourselves, like a deep pool of clear water.
Dear Lauren, thank you for…oh, there are no words. Just thank you for being SO fully YOU. My heart swells with love and great joy. I am proud of you. Hugging you dear one, Robin
PS: I forgot to say, I am sooooooo glad you enjoyed my laughter. I LOVE to laugh. My husband and I laugh all the time.
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Lance Says:
21 April 2010 at 5:43 am.
Robin….sweet, sweet Robin….
Your words today touch my heart. Maybe even more right now than they would have at any other time – as I am in this place of listening to my heart. Sometimes I listen and “get it”, sometimes I listen and ignore it, and sometimes I just don’t listen at all. I hope that I am listening and “getting it” more and more as I journey through this life.
“Life is too precious to waste.” – Robin, how true that is. And how easy it is to ignore that thought, always thinking that there will be another day to start (really listening to your heart).
Today, I choose to live, really “live” life! And there might be some unknowns out there (in fact, there will be), and I look forward to all that lies ahead – and whatever it means – and wherever that takes me.
Robin, you have such a beautiful way of expressing that deep spirit within you. I am honored, always, to be able to be here and read your words, and let them really land upon my soul. Peace and love to you…always…dear friend.
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Robin Easton Reply:
April 22nd, 2010 at 2:43 pm
Dearest Lance, Oh it does my heart good to see you hear…anywhere for that matter! LOL! You know Lance, you have SUCH a truly beautiful heart. I really can’t tell you how beautiful. It is a heart so precious and totally worthy of listening to and trusting. You can’t possibly miss, or go wrong. The target you are aiming for is sooooo huge and you are so filled with innate goodness that you will not miss.
In fact, the more you listen to that golden heart of yours the more you will bloom into all that you already are and all that you hunger for and seek. Your dreams lie there in that precious heart of yours. I see them on your face. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see your heart is just MAGNIFICENTLY beautiful Lance. One only has to look at your dear face to see all the hope, joy, love, promise of greatness in you. It is BURSTING out of you.
Thank you my dear friend for all your encouragement, your ability to see me and my own heart. We are both made richer and the fabric of life is made richer. It is good. Much love to you and to your family as well. Know that you have so many who believe in your greatness, including me. Robin
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nothingprofound Says:
21 April 2010 at 7:50 am.
When you stop looking for “it,” it’s right there. Then you can start enjoying “it”.
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Robin Easton Reply:
April 22nd, 2010 at 2:50 pm
Dear beautiful “Profound”, Marty, you are amazing. You summed this whole post in one line. You are SO SO right. It is right HERE, right now. When we are “off” looking for it somewhere else we miss what is right under our noses.
You are a very unique soul and have a way of expressing that is just mind boggling. One line! And you’ve said it all. I am so intrigued by that. It really is a gift. And one that I take great joy in no matter how many times I see your sentiments. In fact, I am always eager to see what will come out next. You stand out, make me smile, and my heart sing every time it resonates with your expressions. Hugging you. Robin
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suzen Says:
21 April 2010 at 8:06 am.
Hi Robin! This was WONDERful! Oh I so love reading your blog! The words of advice from the deathbed of your friend are indeed precious. I think one of the reasons all the books we gravitate to in our quests for how to live, how to BE, are just a reflection of our “unsureness” – like our self-doubt that we are not living rightly(yet), or must be missing something. While I’ve read several shelves of them myself, I can tell you honestly that those books (most) can be easily forgotten if I am fully engaged in LIVING – which I am (finally!) and you are so right, just live the life we are given and for the most part get your nose out of the book(s) that tell you HOW – get out there and live!
I read art books, magazines, how-to paint books for YEARS before I picked up a brush and actually painted! Kind of a great example here, isn’t it? Once I started painting – the DOING of it – I gave most of the books away! ha!
Hugs
suZen
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Robin Easton Reply:
April 22nd, 2010 at 3:48 pm
Dearest SuZen, I love how you share with us your own story, your honesty, and your insight as to why we gravitate to all the book on our quest. I have had people actually tell me this, as the very reason why they read books. Several people, in fact. They have said that they just don’t think that they could possibly know what is right for them or that the mere thought of it is terrifying. Well, they may not at first know what is right for them, but if we get in and LIVE we work out pretty fast who we are and what our truth is, even if it’s to discover that our truth is forever changing. We have reached a place where we are comfortable with that and can embrace the unknown. We become Great Explorers trekking into Unknown and never before seen territories.
I just LOVE your story about your art journey. How wonderful! And bravo!! I am a glass artisan who works with melting recycled glass (or have in the past) and I initially got several books, but none of them applied to recycled glass and combining colors of glass that have different rates of expansion and contraction (under heat and cooling). Finally one day, like you, I got rid of all but 2 books and I dove in and explored without limits, to see what I could do. The results were remarkable. Even today trained glass fusers will tell me that “It can’t be done.” Even when they see, right before their eyes, the results of it being done. LOL! Or they are blown away that someone could step off the edge and find new ways, etc.
Often without the books, rules, guidelines, maps and so on we have no concept of limitations so we break ALL the rules and try things that we might have been told otherwise not to do, or told were impossible and did not work. So we move beyond all limitations and break all rules and discover a wide open infinite Universe that (if we are open AND AVAILABLE) will pump us FULL of creativity, guidance and love. I LOVE jumping off the edge. Pretty much everything I do in my life is self-taught. I break a lot of rules. LOL! Oh!! How fun! How free!! How Joyous!
Thank you dear Suzen for inspiring me and being the bounteous soul that you are. Hugging you right back, Robin
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Michelle Says:
21 April 2010 at 10:32 am.
Robin;
I love how you always seem to post the right thing at the right time.
Something else our culture hates is Waiting – PATIENCE. If we are at that fork we often will not take the time to hear what the Silence has to say. I got stuck this winter. I couldn’t paint – it was physically painful to contemplate it – the road seemed more than forked, it seemed CLOSED. So rather than fight it, I waited. I took a sideroad instead while I waited. In the process, a whole other side to myself that I was aware of but never went deeply into opened up to me and I explored it. Suddenly I could see a light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. I am now able to make the hard decisions that will clear the way. I couldn’t even see what was needed before. The answers are still coming slowly and I am just enjoying the adventure of watching it all unfold. And I am painting again.
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Robin Easton Reply:
April 22nd, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Oh my dear Michelle, I am sooooooooo touched by your story. Honored that you would share it here. It brought tears to my eyes. You have looked at another aspect of this. YES! We do hate waiting, being still, being “with” the unknown, the uncomfortable, the shifts in ourselves, in life, the lulls that want to pull us inward so that we can stop and reflect….or simply “be” and do nothing.
When you told me you got stuck this winter, my first thought was how prolific you were for soooooooo long. It didn’t surprise me that you might go into a lull. I am often like this with the piano or writing. But now recognize it as a lull, a regathering of inspiration, change, growth, passion, collecting of other parts of myself, so that when I return to my music, writing, photography or glass and pottery work, it is like being reborn again. I am refreshed and full of new inspiration.
I notice this same thing in my young piano students. They would ebb and flow. I always told the parents NOT to push them, but to let them ebb and flow and that when they returned to the piano they would burst forth with new songs, new energy and deeper desire. And they always did, just as I always do.
We live in a society that regiments us from the kindergarten on. We are taught to stick to it and force ourselves and push ourselves, until as adults we reach a place where we refer to a pause as “writer’s bloke” or “musicians bloke”. Although we may no longer have anyone pushing us, “pushing” has become so familiar to us that we don’t know anything else. In fact, we are afraid of anything else. We get scared that we have lost our talent, our desire and more. And we continue to do what was done to us. We push ourselves even harder.
You are sooooooooooo smart that you simply let go and didn’t not fight it, but waited instead. Wow!! Good for you. This touches me so much and excites me that you did this. AND that you went on another whole journey. It is all connected isn’t it. We are not machines. We are malleable souls and all facets of our lives are interconnected.
You honored me today by sharing all this and allowed me to claim more of my truth. I am so blessed by you. Thank you dear Michelle. It’s a gift. Hugs, Robin
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Evita Says:
21 April 2010 at 3:25 pm.
I got shivers as I read this Robin – wow!!!
Something that has been happening to me, is what you mentioned near the start about our culture always seeking external guidance. Since over 2 years ago I have been only to eager to share with the world so much thinking of how I can help. And recently I am having a very profound still silence washing over me. Don’t get me wrong, I am still there and always will be to help in our world, but I am feeling these days like I have less to say, like people just need to keep living more and reading less… So your words hit on something very profound and true.
And the advice you got from your friend on their death bed, ties into all this so perfectly – we just need to live, and not spend our whole lives trying to figure out “how to” – when we let go, it is than that we perhaps do our best living.
Gorgeous post Robin and excellent advice!
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Robin Easton Reply:
April 22nd, 2010 at 4:19 pm
Dear sweet Evita, I am sooooo touched by your words. Wow! There are so many beautiful changes happening in your life right now. I find that exhilarating! So excited for you.
The silence you speak of is exquisite!! I love this silence. I am madly in love with it. I live most of my life without concepts, words of explanation, thoughts. It is so freeing. What I write on these pages is not thought based. I sit down and I FEEL. And then my hands move. But I am caught up in glorious emotion and communion with Silence and Love.
I really have nothing to say. I don’t. It you look back over my older posts, I talk about this quite a bit. I think the thing I most have to give is emotion and Love. I often sit and read these comments from all the loving souls and I write with tears running down my face. I simply FEEL so much love for them. And yet, oddly I am very verbose, as you can see. But it is effortless and requires no thinking. Just feeling and loving.
I LOVE this line of yours: “…we just need to live, and not spend our whole lives trying to figure out “how to†– when we let go, it is than that we perhaps do our best living.”
That last part of about letting go and doing our best living is the story of my life. I got tears in my eyes reading this. Life wants to teach us, wants to carry us, wants to bring us to Life, bring us to Itself, to ourselves.
Thank you my dear sweet sister friend. I am so excited for you. Your heart knows. It’s beautiful. Much love, Robin
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patricia Says:
21 April 2010 at 7:35 pm.
This is just a lovely post and I enjoyed reading it. I started at Catrien’s words. What a great idea.
I think I need to come back and read some more….or re-read as I am very stuck in my healing process and in working through my energies…I have acupuncture needles in my ear at I write trying to get a liver/adrenal infection taken care of and get back moving – in pain and at at stand still since Nov.2009…I so need to get back moving and into living my own life….and truly wish to heal first….I am just not on my ego’s time schedule at all.
I will come back and continue through the writing, I think there is some insight here, I am just not able to grasp it in one journey through. The comments are also enlightening.
I loved Tess’ “I did not promise you Perfection.”
Thank you for this project and writing
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Robin Easton Reply:
April 22nd, 2010 at 6:10 pm
Dear Patricia, Thank you so much for sharing here. It is beautiful and moving. My heart goes out to you with love through your healing process. Many of us have been there in one way or another and suffering and pain is very challenging. I know this firsthand. I think it’s important that we be gentle and loving with ourselves. As hard as it can be, sometimes our greatest wisdom and eventual strength is garnered from these times.
I am honored that you stopped in and even left a comment when you are in pain. That touched me deeply. I’ve been to your site and found it beautiful and sensitive.
Yes, the comments here are amazing. The beautiful souls who come here and share their lives are very dear to me. I learn SO much from them and am often moved to tears and joy by their courage, wisdom, openness and humanity. I am humbled by them. And yes, Tess is so delightful. I just loved what she shared as well. Thank you Patricia. I wish you healing and an easing of the pain. Hugs, Robin
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Wilma Ham Says:
21 April 2010 at 9:37 pm.
Oh Sweet Robin what an awesome initiative you four women have undertaken. I am going to soak in the feeling of all four posts not just the words.
This is life for me; “We can’t possibly have all the answers and know everything. Life is a mystery and we are Life learning about Itself.”
Oh that is so beautiful. What a greater gift is possible? We all go to Disney Land while life itself is so much more wondrous and exciting when we roam with innocent perception and child-precious curiosity tasting life with everything that is available through our body.
Let us too fully unfold like a flower in the wild and grow how it suits us.
To all us flowers, lots of love, Wilma
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Robin Easton Reply:
April 22nd, 2010 at 6:27 pm
Dearest Wilma, You are sooooo beautifully wise. I love so many lines here:
“We all go to Disney Land while life itself is so much more wondrous and exciting when we roam with innocent perception and child-precious curiosity tasting life with everything that is available through our body.”
That is a great analogy. Wow! I love the bluntness of your writing and yet combined with such pristine beauty. You have a deep awareness of natural beauty, and all things we have forgotten. Things like Nature and core values and intuition and spontaneity and innate intelligence. It is one of the many things I love about you.
Sweet Wilma this line brought tears to my eyes and made my heart catch; it is so intimately lovely. It reminds me of John Muir’s writings:
“Let us too fully unfold like a flower in the wild and grow how it suits us.”
Oh there is so much FREEDOM in that Wilma. You have a way of giving us all permission to be who we really are, and to live from our innate intelligence, from our hearts.
I cherish your visits, wisdom, and the freedom you offer us all. You are much needed in the world and so loved. You’re a truly wise woman. I recommended you to Gail who did this 4 woman project. Thank you dear friend. Love, Robin
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Wilma Ham Reply:
April 22nd, 2010 at 10:35 pm
Thank you dearest Robin, I cherish you because you draw this out of me, you let me speak and make me speak. Your listening draws my innate knowledge and THAT is your gift that I treasure sooooooooo much. And thank you for connecting me with Gail and all the other women through this post and through your kind heart. As always, love Wilma
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Steven Aitchison Says:
21 April 2010 at 9:41 pm.
HI Robin. This is another beautiful piece of writing and I loved your friends advice “Don’t ever make the ‘search’ your whole life. Make ‘active living’ your life.†which is so relevant.
This is a great project from 4 empowering women on the net and I have so enjoyed reading all the posts by you, all you are missing is a Charlie and the angels will be complete
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Robin Easton Reply:
April 22nd, 2010 at 6:41 pm
Dear Steven, what a delight to see you here. Thank you for your kind words and encouragement. Yes, my friend’s words hit home so deeply, I never forgot them. I think it took courage to be able to see that and share it when he was dying. But in many ways it was also his way of setting himself free, and being in a place of truth, even if was late in life. I don’t think it’s ever too late to recognize and own our truth. It may be painful to see what we didn’t do, but it can also leave us with a clean feeling of finally seeing and coming into truth, even in death.
Also, this project was REMARKABLE, we four women were in touch throughout the whole week, supporting, helping and loving each other. Sharing little bits of our days as we shared information and organized, laughing over things we each wrote. It was soooooo healing and deeply warm. There was a sense of strong community and support. It actually made blogging easier in many ways. I love your line about us needing a “Charlie”!!! I laughed out loud. Thank you my dear friend. Hugs, Robin
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BK Says:
22 April 2010 at 12:42 am.
Very truly put. A lot of times we have to have the faith and trust in ourselves to move forward. We would not always know what lies ahead waiting for us but when we trust and have the faith in ourselves to move forward, more often than not the pathway will just unfold itself before us.
I am right now in a crossroad looking at another path and wondering if I should be taking this new path. I have question regarding where this new path will lead me and moving into this new path is scary. But this is one moment that also offers me an opportunity to get unstuck. Perhaps … not perhaps. Do not or do not, there is no try. Trust and have faith in myself and let my heart takes the lead for now.
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Robin Easton Reply:
April 22nd, 2010 at 8:21 pm
Dear BK, Welcome and thank you for stopping in and taking the time to share here. What a fascinating comment. I love this line and find it really resonates with me: “…more often than not the pathway will just unfold itself before us.â€
I’ve also found that sometimes I am lead onto a path or make a choice that I might at first not like or that feels as if I might have chosen “wrongâ€, but it is actually VERY right and exactly what I need…to grow. It can just feel uncomfortable or foreign because it is unfamiliar and I have jumped off the edge of my comfort zone or known path into something new. Sometimes it takes a bit of time to adjust to change, even positive change.
I also loved this line: “…there is no try. Trust and have faith in myself and let my heart takes the lead for now.†Yes, that is beautiful. I too let my heart take the lead. It’s never let me down…only because no matter what situation or path I chose, as long as I stayed aware and listened to my heart, I always have grown…deeply.
I wish you so much encouragement and courage on your journey. It sounds like a new adventure. I respect your awareness and willingness to embrace life. It is beautiful and heartening to see. Hugs, Robin
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Hilary Says:
23 April 2010 at 10:11 am.
Hi Robin .. thank goodness I learnt early on – make a choice, you can always change your mind, your direction, or even go back (though you can’t undo things that have been done) .. at least I keep going. We all suffer from getting stuck sometimes .. feeling overwhelmed, too tired from too many challenges etc .. but life improves and we can move forward choosing where we go.
I think I agree with you – I’m not good at consulting others .. I like to work things through myself, but probably I could have learnt more, which would have helped. Your loved one says it so well .. as my mother said to me .. do things before you’re 80 .. as she hadn’t and regrets it.
Experiences are the important things in life – we’re out there doing things, testing the way, testing the waters .. it’s great & I’m pretty conservative at doing it … but I do it. As you say .. life is now – live it.
Great – I must go away and over to the other sites .. only that chosen path on the journey of moving on and learning new things .. bye for now .. have a good weekend – Hilary
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Chris Edgar Says:
23 April 2010 at 9:06 pm.
Hi Robin — I like what you said about making life about living instead of preparing to live. This is why the personal growth techniques I think are most valuable work on the body, where our experiences happen first before they get muffled by thinking and the ways we tend to distract ourselves from what we’re feeling. Those give me a sense of being thoroughly alive, which I take out into the world.
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Tammy Says:
26 April 2010 at 6:52 am.
Wonderful post…yet again! I am lucky in that I’ve learned this lesson from youth from some very encouraging family members. Sometimes I just totally withdraw myself from reading blogs, newspapers, and books. I do this to get away for opinion. This does allow one to live in the moment, and hopefully, without regret. Sure, mistakes I’ve made…many of them.
It is important for each of us to NOT be told what to do, but to live within the realm of where our hearts take us.
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Julie Says:
26 April 2010 at 8:58 am.
Such wisdom from so many! …and like Evita and Tammy, I’ve been trying in my own special way to withdraw more from being online so that I can live more fully. I just read Tara’s post about envisioning her 80th birthday, and one of the comments she received was so poignant. The commenter said if that were her now, many of the celebration attendees would be online friends. As powerfully much as I love you and all my other friends, I do not want a life that excludes those nearest to me. And so… I have been absent much, and this is why. Your friend’s deathbed advice just brings it home. Thank you for the affirmation, the wisdom, the love…
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timethief Says:
26 April 2010 at 12:51 pm.
Hello there,
I have found that personal growth and self improvement are step by step processes. One can refer to guides, gurus, and handbooks but ultimately it’s summoning the courage and confidence to take action that moves on forward. Once one has taken action then the feedback loop comes into play. Provided we are resilient we can adapt and adopt while we experience being in the flow, but first we need to become unstuck and this post encourages us to do that ie. to become open minded and open hearted risk takers who live and love consciously. And, that’s why I love this informative and inspirational post.
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Tess The Bold Life Says:
27 April 2010 at 2:55 pm.
Robin,
I just came back to read your response and was thrilled and felt loved and understood to the bone. I am going to write a book about this topic after reading your reply. I’ve been asking for guidance on my next step and your blog brought the answer.
I’m happy to share the peace I’ve found over this situation and many mothers in the world deserve to surrender and experience the same…I’m guessing they don’t understand how and I do! I know have a solution to a huge problem. One that will add tremendous peace to our world.
love ya more….a second book…oh my! Congratulations! We need all you can write;)
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Wise Living Blog » Archives » Getting Unstuck Says:
11 July 2010 at 8:45 am.
[...] Robin Easton from Naked in Eden (upper right) [...]
Tara Sophia Mohr | wise living » Getting Unstuck Says:
19 May 2011 at 11:29 pm.
[...] Robin Easton from Naked in Eden (upper right) [...]
Robin Easton Reply:
April 20th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
Dearest Z, I think you hit on something SO key and important here. Some of the changes that we often need to make or actions we need to take to become “unstuck” can seem incomprehensible. We can even at times feel like”we are going crazy or behaving radically, or irrationally”.
I believe we feel this way because where we are headed is such a drastically different reality to the one we are currently living or have always known that we can’t possibly grasp the new reality, let alone feel it, not UNTIL we’ve take the action that moves us forward. And then the shift is sooooooo huge that we almost aren’t even the same person. It’s as if everything that was not REALLY us falls away, and along with all resistance, fear, etc. Then we often wonder we didn’t do it sooner.
Once we are unstuck and living in the new reality we can often have this sense of “going home”, of recognizing ourselves as if we had ALWAYS “been” the new reality. In essence we always were, we just didn’t yet know it.
Wow!! Thank you for inspiring me to express this. It’s something I’ve experienced many times in my life and now recognize it as part of the pattern of moving toward Life. I am so joyed to see you here. I really am. And you are most definitely my soul sister, right from the start. I love you and just love what you inspire in me. It and you are beautiful. Robin
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