Friday, September 14, 2007

Swamping the boat and Hakomi


Swamping the boat refers to how it is sometimes when circumstances or events seem to press harder and faster than you can go, or when you have a deadline that is totally eating your lunch ... there goes another metaphor..... For some people, having a deadline helps to put wind in your sails (as revered author Brad Brown said), and at other times or for other people, it swamps the boat.

Useful to know. How you are with the circumstances of your life - the deadlines posed from outside and the deadlines posed from within...? We want to do things on our schedule. At least, I do. I want to make it work according to my picture.

Therein lies the rub. We're not in control. That's the bad news -- while we're busy trying to get into control or take control or just can't take our hands off the wheel while the car is going over the cliff ..... and the good news -- when we finally get it that we don't have to be in control -- we can let go and let God. That's a wonderful relief ... at least for a few minutes ... and if we (by we, I mean "I"), can just remember - keep reminding ourselves that it's okay to let it go. It's okay to not hold on to the it of existence. The minutae and the details and the who said what to whom, but just bask in the glory of existence. To see the sweep in life, instead of a dreary plodding or a preoccupation with bean-counting.

A grace, instead of a punishment. A light if we will only look for it. Which brings me to Hakomi, which is a Hopi Indian word which means "How do you stand in relation to these many realms?

In this instance, I am refering to Hakomi Therapy, a body-centered therapy, of which ...

"Some of the origins ... stem from Buddhism and Taoism, especially concepts like gentleness, compassion, mindfulness, and 'going with the grain.' Other influences come from general systems theory, which incorporates the idea of respect for the wisdom of each individual as a living organic system that spontaneously organizes matter and energy, and selects from the environment what it needs in a way that maintains its goals, programs, and identity."

More on this soon. ; ) But there is indeed light at the end of the tunnel. Or am I awash in metaphor?

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