Have you ever considered what a word actually is?  What would happen if you didn’t take words as seriously?  What if you realized they aren’t suitable for the heaviness they so often convey?  What if you began to view words as mere tools, highly limited, highly misunderstood, and frequently misused?

I was lost in words until I discovered they are not the truth tellers I took them to be.  The stream of words passing through my mind caused stress and constriction that almost constantly lurked beneath my “happy self”.  Though I was hardly aware of it, this underground torment generated negativity for me and those around me through judgment, criticism, and all kinds of comparison.

I’m less lost, and less tense, now that I see words as only shorthand tags.  In the process of forming any single word, most of reality is left out.  Words exclude in order to become shortcuts for naming.  They are only arrows that point toward reality but don’t represent it.  Once I realized this, I began to more naturally experience life directly rather than through the filtering of word-tools. 

Experiencing reality firsthand, and directly, brings a joy of living and gratitude for life that I never imagined before I opened up to it.  I wish the same for you as you step toward uncovering the wholeness of reality that lies beneath and beyond our words. 

About the author

I’m a guy who went from being shy and unnoticed as a child, to a well-meaning but cruel-at-times believer of objective truths and rules; and now to a joyful being who can be lighthearted and playfully silly. 

Earning a Master’s Degree in Industrial Psychology seemed good when I finished in 1980.  I enjoyed studying leadership and management, and being a business manager seemed important at the time.

But more valuable than all that thought-and-status-based stuff was choosing to take Latin dance classes after a divorce in 2008.  And better still was falling in love with nature: trees, other plants, sun, air, and earth.  This appreciation, which grew during walks through tree-lined neighborhoods between my home and coffee shops in the city, was accompanied by sheer enjoyment of the movement, and stillness, in my body. 

Best of all was discovering how to step aside from my thoughts, rather than always being controlled by them. 

This author is a guy who found joy in living by seeing through masquerading truths of everyday tensions, regrets, worries, and a continual focus on what’s next.  Realizing these “truths” as the mental chatter they are, and being able to set them aside, freed up space in consciousness for a wholistic awareness of my body, the surroundings, and all their interconnectedness.  Shifting away from constraining head-based stuff opened me up to the fullness of what’s real in the world, a wider view of possibilities and appreciation for life. 

This journey of taking steps away from functioning as a know-it-all who almost continually put himself above and against life, led to a sense of Being that moves with ease and gratitude through a life that is abundant whenever I’m open enough to allow it. 

I wish for each of you to find the same underlying sense of ease and gratitude, but in a way that is unique to you.  I wish for every person a full and happy meeting of “your deep gladness” with “the world’s deep hunger”.