She Who Knows

This past weekend I was privileged to spend the weekend with a group of highly motivated women to explore what constitutes Truth.

Throughout the weekend we kept returning to the theme of Wisdom…what is it, and where do you find it?  Is it acquired or inherent?  We began to speak of She Who Knows and She Who Won’t.

My current understanding is that every human is endowed from birth with an aspect of the Self who Knows, who is loving, trusting, strong, confident, compassionate and forgiving.  It is this Self who is the truth of who we are.

Marching right alongside of She Who Knows, however, is She Who Won’t.  Our childhood is spent fleshing her out and dressing her in a unique personality.  She appears to take on a mind of her own, and off she goes.  She begins to make lots and lots of decisions, sorting out good from bad, right from wrong, defining what constitutes winning and losing, success and failure, morality and immorality. 

By the time we reach adulthood (whenever that may be) most, if not all, of us have forgotten She Who Knows.  The crux of the spiritual journey is rediscovering the path back to Her, learning how to recognize Her, learning to trust Her and profoundly appreciate Her.  She Who Won’t is usually not on board with this intention to remember, and resists mightily. 

The interplay between these two states of consciousness is the whole ballgame of life, once you become aware.  She Who Knows maintains a light and playful approach, delighting in each new revelation we allow to dawn upon us.  She Who Won’t thinks this whole setup is just that—a setup—and struggles against it with great determination.

Cracks me up.

Oprah

Yes, I watched Oprah’s final three shows and must admit to a little eye glistening.  I’ve known her a long time.  I remember the years I wanted to somehow find a way to be a guest on her show.  Then came the years that I wanted to be Oprah.  Then followed the years of disenchantment.

Oprah has been and continues to be a formidable influence on our culture for affirming Life.  She attracted millions to the Church of Oprah; she changed lives and attitudes.  Her generosity is well documented, most especially on the Oprah Show. 

Did I stop watching Oprah years ago to avoid the uncomfortable feeling of envy?  Perhaps.  Yet my discomfort also springs from mild revulsion at her incredible self-promotion that increased with each new season.  Oprah believes her own PR in a way that appears to go beyond healthy self-esteem.

Her final shows prove my point.  To attend a party in her honor shown on national TV, a party organized by her paid staff to highlight celebrity after celebrity paying homage to herself, along with clips of “regular folk” touting her impact on their lives diminishes, in my mind, Oprah’s influence.  I do not doubt that everyone who spoke genuinely loves and admires Oprah.  The queasy feeling I have is my asking myself how it was any of my business.  Her final show, a one-hour sermon extoling all that she has learned and accomplished, marveling at her rise from a “little black girl,” from Mississippi to “Oprah,” made me squirm.  All that she said was true and yet I ask ,why did she feel the need to remind us?  

No one can possibly deny her impact on our society.  She transformed the talk show genre from one of screaming idiocy to education, honesty and faith, from ridicule to compassion.  She was brilliant.  Did she think perhaps we missed it?  Her final three shows left no doubt.  

It was a spectacle for sure.  I just wish I hadn’t seen it.

Updates

1.  Just a heads up that the Inner Guidance Experiment group beginning the first Tuesday evening in June is almost full.  Let me know if you want to join us!  The info about the group is posted in an earlier blog entry.

2.  I have added the option to subscribe to my blog by email, which means, if it works as it is supposed to, that you can choose to receive an email notice each time there is a new post on the RobynWrites blog.  The link to do so is in the right hand column of this page.  It says, duh, "Subscribe by Email."

3.  I will be retreating -- stepping out--over the Memorial Day weekend with a group of women from Galveston.  I'm so excited to meet new folks and am so curious to discover where these women will take themselves over the weekend.  It is an illusion that I am the "leader."

4.  I leave you with a quote from Dr. Jill Carroll that really touched me:

"Given that the rapture didn't happen as predicted, I hope that those who really did believe it would happen today are not too despairing or distraught.  It's hard to face the fault-lines of one's belief system.  Most people don't have the courage for it."

Stepping Out FB page

I'm experimenting with creating a Stepping Out with Robyn page on Facebook.  Where is my social networking savvy daughter when I need her?

If you enjoy this blog, and you are a FB user, please go here:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stepping-Out-with-Robyn/224020250941884?sk=wall

and click "Like" on the page.  Then we'll see what happens!

Thanks!

Inner Guidance Change

By request, we are moving the Inner Guidance group from Monday evenings in June to Tuesday evenings, at 7:00, at my home.

Also, you do not need to commit to attend all four sessions, though I think those who attend all  four will get the most benefit.

Please let me know if you want to join in the fun!

Inner Guidance Experiment!

Every Tuesday evening in June, I’d love for anyone interested in practicing accessing inner guidance to join me from 7:00 to 8:30.

My belief and my experience is that all of us possess a trustworthy Inner Voice within our mind that is far wiser than we imagine.  People have known this for centuries calling it various names:  the Muse, Holy Spirit, Intuition, Higher Power, Christ Mind, whatever.

How do we access this Inner Teacher on our own behalf, and on behalf of others?  How do we discern the difference between this Voice and the legion of other voices in our heads?  How do we learn to trust Its guidance?  Much has been written, but I’d love the opportunity to practice and experiment with touching and resting in this precious Open Space in a supportive group setting.

I have experimented with my own Inner Knower for more than 20 years, usually in private.  This experimental, experiential group will be a laboratory experience for me as well, thus there will be no charge; however, group size will be limited

If you would like to spend 4 Tuesday evenings “going within,” and sharing your experience, please send me an email at robwhy@sbcglobal.net to register. 

Looking forward to meeting you inside.

I love you, and...

I love you, and I’m angry with you.

I love you, and I don’t want to play with you any more.

I love you, and you’re fired.

I love you, and I’m getting a divorce.

I love you, and I need for you to move out.

I love you, and I’m not who you need me to be.

I love you, and I won’t go with you.

Throughout most of my life I misunderstood what love is.  I thought more along these lines:

If I love you I should not get angry with you.

If I love you I should play as long as you want me to.

If I love you I should keep you on the payroll because you need the money.

If I love you I should stay married to you even as we live a lie.

If I love you I should offer hospitality to you indefinitely.

If I love you I should bend myself into a pretzel to be who you want me to be.

If I love you I should follow you to the ends of the earth.

Today, my thinking goes more like this:

I will not allow my anger to hide my love for you.

I will not take my toys and go home until I remember my love for you.

I will not fire you until I clearly remember your God given value.

I will not divorce you until I remember how important you have been in my life, and how grateful I am for your tolerance of me all these years.

I will not cast you out of my home until I am certain I am not also casting you out of my heart.

I acknowledge that diminishing myself does not demonstrate my love for you.

My refusal to go with you is not abandoning you, but setting you free.

Before I make any decision about “what to do with you,” I must first remember that I love you!  It’s the only approach that makes any sense because love is not personal, but universal.  I AM love; you ARE love.  I must acknowledge the truth of that in order to be true to who we both are.