When normal disappears

In volatile times, it's critical to find something that resembles solid footing. Something that your mind, body, and soul can grasp onto when normal has disappeared. Finding solid footing is not a trivial task. For some, it's spiritual and for some it's academic. For some, it's found in family and for others, it's in the cosmos. Where one finds solid ground changes over time. What worked for you years ago might not work today, but don't let that discourage you rather keep seeking.

A few years ago I found myself amidst an existential crisis. Normal vanished. The only way through was inward. It was not easy nor do I think I've finished but I did discover a number of tools and resources that made the walk inward palpable. One of my favorite authors and philosophers that "found me" is John O'Donohue. I never met him, he passed away in 2008 but his legacy continues and he has a number of interviews and lectures online. My favorite is his interview on OnBeing. There is a team that keeps an active Facebook page too. If you're on Facebook and want a contemplative yet encouraging post to appear on occasion, I'd recommend you follow it.

John's legacy directs our search for intimacy to crucial thresholds: tradition and modernity, past and future, life and death, the visible and the invisible world.

Here is a recent FB post from his book, To Bless the Space Between Us:

This is the time to be slow,

Lie low to the wall

Until the bitter weather passes.

Try, as best you can, not to let 

The wire brush of doubt

Scrape from your heart

All sense of yourself

And your hesitant light.

If you remain generous,

Time will come good;

And you will find your feet 

Again on fresh pastures of promise,

Where the air will be kind

And blushed with beginning.

May you find your way to solid footing during unsettling times.

Other resources:

• David Whyte and his FB page
• Parker Palmer and his FB Page
• Gratefulness.org + daily "word of the day" delivered to your email
• OnBeing podcast includes 100s of inspiring interviews ranging from John O'Dononue to Brene Brown to Indigo Girls to Richard Rohr to Maya Angelou to Brother David Steindl-Rast and the list goes on.
• Pema Chodron
• Zoe Keating's music