Both Can Be True…
“Let go of certainty. The opposite isn’t uncertainty. It’s openness, curiosity, and a willingness to embrace paradox, rather than choose up sides. The ultimate challenge is to accept ourselves exactly as we are, but never stop trying to learn and grow.”
—Tony Schwartz
This past week I’ve found myself holding the awareness of the world as both terrible and beautiful. It feels critical to keep strengthening the ability to hold space for being horrified about something read in the news in one moment and laughing in joy in the next while watching the antics of a squirrel out the window. Otherwise, we’re likely to shrink our world so much to ensure we only see what we expect to see.
Our brains really want to help us save energy by quickly choosing sides or racing to one conclusion. But sometimes we must be willing to slow down, embrace paradox, and the uncertainty it offers before we can move forward.
“How wonderful that we have met with a paradox. Now we have some hope of making progress.“ —Niels Bohr
Love Paradox
“I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.”
― Mother Teresa
No Objectivity
“I don’t believe in objectivity. I observe the observer’s paradox every moment I’m filming. Your presence is changing everything; there’s no mistaking it. And you have a responsibility.”
― Lucy Walker
Two Things
“Across the planes of consciousness, we have to live with the paradox that opposite things can be simultaneously true.”
― Ram Das
Begin
This is now. Now is,
all there is. Don’t wait for Then;
strike the spark, light the fire.
Sit at the Beloved’s table,
feast with gusto, drink your fill
then dance
the way branches
of jasmine and cypress
dance in a spring wind.
The green earth
is your cloth;
tailor your robe
with dignity and grace.
—Rumi
May you strike the spark, light the fire of Love.
