Augmentation
Today is the last day of a five-week trip to the US and I’ll be sad to leave. As many of you know, our plan is to move here by the end of the year, and we are finally starting to narrow down the question of “where”. While I likely would not have made this choice independently of R (it’s really his dream to move here – I love my life in the UK), I have to say, I am getting more than a little tired of so many people asking me “Are you SURE you want to move to the US with everything that’s going on there? I could NEVER do that!”
Lynda, my energy teacher, always says “Your attention is a powerful energetic tool – whatever you attend to, you notice and augment.” Sure, America has a lot of problems right now. You could say this country has had a lot of problems for a long time. And if I put my attention on all that dissonance – if I spent a lot of time on social media, listened to lots of topical podcasts, and dove into endless political debates – I would augment that incoherence. I’d probably end up like all the brave foot soldiers going mad in Hafiz’s poem I’m sharing this week, falling on the ground in excruciating pain.
But I can also choose to attend to, and thus notice and augment, all the good I have experienced in these past five weeks. The amazing people I have met who are doing their best to make the world a better place. Colleagues and friends who see shades of gray rather than black and white and bring openness, curiosity, and compassion into every encounter. Strangers who hold the door open and let me cut in when traffic is heavy. When people question my decision to move, I can’t help but feel slightly offended on behalf of these wonderful people doing their best to augment all the good that is still here.
Regardless of where you live, we all have a choice about how we experience, and indeed shape, the world we live in. What we attend to – what we pay attention to – augments and affects our surroundings. As Hafiz writes – it is a naïve man who thinks we are not engaged in a fierce battle. So why not carry your heart through this world like a life-giving sun?
About Friday Pauses
We can all sense how a lack of presence in our daily life affects the quality of our relationships, our ability to form real connections – and yet we struggle to set aside distractions. In my Friday Pauses, I want to encourage us all to do just that – pause for a moment and feel what it’s like to be present by reading a poem.
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If you’re new to Friday Pause, here’s what I suggest:
Love Friday Pause? I’ve started compiling previous editions on my website, where you can search for your favourite poem or poet, or browse by theme.
Looking for more inspiration about finding the courage to step into a major life transition? Check out my new blog Courage Corner on my website.
Wonderful post — we each create our reality with every thought