Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Observation

A friend asks, "Can we believe anything, or is it better to believe nothing except what we experience ourselves?"

The question got me thinking about observation and self-trust.  For much of my life I didn't trust my own observations--I had been thoroughly invalidated for stating some of these out loud.  I thought I had to have a guru to set me straight.  People would say, "You have within you everything you need to know."  I'd look around inside my mind and say, "No I don't.  Nothing but confusion there."  So I think observation comes in two steps and the first is to rehabilitate our own ability to observe.  The second is to observe with integrity and courage.  And not to get scared off by second hand warnings the purpose of which is to scare and nullify us. 

For me it was a matter of figuring out who to trust and even just how far to trust them, hopefully long enough to get my own feet under me.  I tend to trust hopeful things and mistrust downers.  Sometimes I overshoot and have to revise my trust of someone and something.  I'm forever grateful to The Farm and to Stephen and to each and every person I lived with or worked with on The Farm.  I was able to bring myself up to a level of awareness I don't think I would have achieved without that experience.  By the time I saw the limits of our vision and practice, I was able to sort it out without throwing away the sweet truth of what we lived.  Since then I have grown my powers of observation and refined my search while still maintaining the integrity of our vision.  We spiritual hippies made a powerful difference.


Nothing is true for you unless you have observed it yourself.   Love, Patricia

Patricia/Trish Lapidus
Writing Consultant, Life Coach, Author

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