Last weekend I was talking about the effects of media on brain development with
MiLo, a friend, father, artist and yogi, I truly admire.
He shared that he used to work in Advertising, editing commercials. He noticed that at the end of the day, his heart felt sunken. He realized that it was due to the bottom line message of ALL the ads: "you are not good enough". You are not enough, so you need X product to fix you - to fill your need. How insidious and heart sinking indeed.
I grew up, like many of us, immersed in the cultural messages that media advertising dishes out. And, for a LONG time, I did
not feel good enough. Now, I know better. To the very core of my being, I know I am enough, we all are enough, in fact we are miracles...every one of us.
Yet before I knew this simple truth to be self evident, I "worked it," trying to be enough, achieve enough, give enough, learn enough, look good enough, be smart enough, love enough, etc... I remember one therapist, who asked me straight out
"Will you ever be good enough for yourself?" That stopped my world. And I know I am not alone in having walked that path. Perhaps it is a universal growing pang, or maybe a "champagne suffering" ill of the privileged, consumer driven Western Culture. I have discovered that the consumptive, compulsive urge to have, to want, to prove, to do, etc, is a toxic mimic for a deeper hunger that longs to be addressed. We are hungry for what we have forgotten is ever present to nourish us. I love what spiritual teacher,
Gurumayi says,
"All hunger is hunger for God"( in the most broad,
ecumenical sense). It is a natural blessing to be satiated by the innate divine communion that is our birth right. Sometimes we forget to access and rest in what
already always is: we
are connected, we
are enough - at essence level, nothing is lacking.
I wonder, until one hits the
real treasure, how much love, food, praise, sex, success, stuff, money,
is enough? Is it
ever enough if it is not feeding the core need? Or resolving the question, "AM I Enough?" once and for all? We can be driven ambitiously by a compulsion to get and to achieve...or, we can be driven by a path of heart, a calling to serve, an authentic inspiration. More money or bigger success seldom equals having more authentic connection or living our bigger "God Life". I love money and success, yet sometimes their pursuit is enmeshed in misunderstanding and they become golden carrots that direct me externally in attempt to fulfill an inner longing.
And yet of all the questions, this next one gets most of my attention:
When we look into our world, what reflects back to us that we are good enough? That in fact we are glorious, unique, and unified all at once?" How do I answer this question?- The frequency of nature... mountain, sky, thriving ecosystems, the bounty of flora, fauna, color and life, sends out a strong "you are enough" message. The natural world is such an amazing blueprint for wholeness.
- Trusted relationships with other beings...where we know, without a doubt that we are loved and lovable, as we are...enough.
- Life as Sadhana, which fulfills all our core needs so generously. Living life as spiritual practice, we become like the laughing Buddha. Knowing we are everything, we embody the good life of true prosperity and happiness. Buddha nature IS our natural state. We are love itself . How could it get any better?
At an intimate, cellular, vibrational level, communion with our essential being, mother nature and our beloveds transmits the message "we belong here, we are home, we are whole, we are enough." We are all a part of
Something Beautiful (This tune by Alexi Murdoch, transmits this very message in a big way,
listen).
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How else do these messages come to us naturally in the world and how can we increase access and exposure so that knowing we are enough becomes the norm?
Please comment! I want to hear from you. After all,
you are the beings reweaving the world, on the leading edge of human consciousness.
Where do you find messages of your magnificent wholeness in the world? Let's focus there...that is liberation, that is truth...that is beautiful and that IS enough.
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