Last week I bought a small book – The Pocket Pema Chödrön – 108 short selections for on-the-go inspiration. I read it on the ferry, before bed, in the bath, to my husband, sisters, and girlfriends.
Pema Chödrön, a Buddhist nun, writes about spirituality in everyday terms, in a way that’s practical and applicable.
“Our wisdom is mixed up with what we call our neurosis. Therefore it doesn’t do any good to get rid of our negative traits because in the process we get rid of our basic wonderfulness.”
Pema Chödrön
She teaches us to soften our hearts towards ourselves and to others and to make friends with our own selves. Make friends with my rough edges? What a relief. As I absorb her words, anxiety and judgments change like the weather into ease and acceptance – awakening my heart.
So true (the quote). It reminds me of something (writer) Patti Digh said, re: “You’re not broken.” We need not to look at ourselves as though we need to be “fixed.” I like what you’ve included above because it meshes with that philosophy. And of course this method wouldn’t include our deep cuts and gashes that truly need treatment — but in terms of our rough edges, we do need to make friends with our unevenness. Our quirkiness indeed helps make us who we are.
Debbie Ford delves into the topic of the ’shadow’ – the part of ourselves that we deny, but that by denying what we don’t want to be, we are also denying our wholeness or the process of becoming whole.
Great practical resources that greatly assisted me on my journey.