Seeing with Fresh Eyes
Presence. Deep, true in the moment presence, for me...is like "seeing with fresh eyes”.
When I see with fresh eyes I am able to access wonder, curiosity, kindness, and compassion. When I see with fresh eyes, awe is available in me. I am able to step out of my conditioned mind, and into an embodied place.
It stills time.
And I fail at this 100 times and get up 101. It’s a practice, not a perfect.
Seeing with fresh eyes is seeing with the unconditioned mind and heart. The open spaces. The growth of new neural networks. The moving into a world of possibilities, instead of sameness.
As WE move into 2019 let’s focus on fresh eyes. More presence, more holding the world and everything in it with both the lightest touch, and a critical eye for injustice.
Here are some fresh ways of being that we continue to work on:
When someone says you are privileged instead of denying it, or justifying it, sit with it, own it.
Seeing the world as “eco” and soul-centric instead of ego and anthropocentric.
Seeing our unhelpful patterns and remembering we don't have to repeat the past. We can create a fresh now.
That forgiveness matters. And it doesn't mean forgetting.
Not denying whiteness as a race, and owning our part in racism.
Embracing discomfort, again and again...and learning and growing through it.
Not overly-independent, but gracefully and thoughtfully interdependent.
Not “me” so much as “we”. Not individual, collective.
Not seeing nature as a resource and recreation but holding it with reverence first...for now, for always. And letting our behavior, and choices be reflected in that.
Not fearing change, but engaging with it.
Not seeing through a lens of lack, instead cultivating "enoughness".
Not holding ourselves to the status quo, instead disrupting it.
Not being our history, but shaping our future with eyes that can create something beyond what we know.
Not denying inequality or our part in that and, doing our part now.
Take a moment right now to write out your list of things you want to see with fresh eyes this year.
Print it out, or write it in long hand. Hang it up somewhere and read your list once a day, or once a week. Add to it.
Celebrate what is growing in you that is helpful. Be kind and committed to the challenges you face.
See the world with fresh eyes and the world will begin to be what you see.
Happy New Year.
We hope to see you at one of our events, or connect with us via email. We'd love to hear from you.
Many blessings,
Carol and Casey