What We Once Forgot

That which is life-giving is essential

Once upon a time, we thought there was a right way to be, to do, to know. A way others could verify, although we weren’t exactly sure who or how they might do it. But we kept looking anyway.

Once upon a time, we thought struggle meant a good, responsible, honorable life. We thought grit and determination meant overriding our instincts, our inner knowing. We thought becoming harder, more calloused, and more protected meant becoming more realistic. An “adult.” 

Once upon a time, we were seduced by the promise that money was our answer to suffering. That well-being was scarce and we needed to compete for it. We were seduced by the sense of purpose money offered in an otherwise complex world. The opportunity for comfort, even if temporary. The clarity of what we needed to do to get it and the thrill of the pursuit.  

Once upon a time, we forgot to value the things that gave us energy–the things that seemed to dance out of us with such ease and replenish our being from the inside-out. We forgot the powerful guidance of the internal hum–that deep, visceral expression of joy that illuminated our person, leaving us radiant and glowing.  

And then, on one completely ordinary day, we remembered.

We remembered that we carried an inner map buried deep in the recesses of our being. A map perfectly designed for us, by us to offer precise guidance in the ups and downs of our extraordinary and yet completely ordinary human life. A map that only we could choose to access.

At first, we weren't sure if we could trust this map. How could it be so simple? How could we know things for ourselves? But little by little, we experimented with its directions. We took a step towards the internal hum, following the expansion. We took a step away from the internal hum, through our contraction. And little by little, our experimentation became more refined. We learned the terrain. We built our compass. 

We remembered that the things that give us energy, light us up, are way-showers for our life. That they are essential. We remembered that what is life-giving is our gift to the whole, our unique and completely necessary form of service. We remembered that what is life-giving is, in fact, the entire point of it all. 

When we remembered this, everything changed. The purifying fires burned our needless suffering, and the cooling waters nourished our seeds of longing. We activated the support that lay dormant in our forgetting, patiently waiting for a chance to engage us again. Patient and trusting that the day would come where we would remember. And from there, everything opened.

Everything changed.