I had not turned on the car radio for about 4 weeks and I felt to switch it on just before arriving home the other day. The timing was perfect to catch about 2 minutes of an interview with a man who recently lost his home in one of the Californian fires. This is what I heard, somewhat paraphrased:
A man in his 70’s is describing the moments when fire was all around his house and the front gate was engulfed in flames and would not open… eventually he gave up on trying to break it down and realised he couldn’t get out. He says that is when he called his wife and said goodbye to her… but somehow, he did manage to get through the gate and drive through the smoke and fire to safety.
The house burned to the ground, as did most of the town – a town, ironically, called Paradise. In the interview, he and his wife have been sifting through the ashes and they have just found his wife’s wedding ring and her rubies. The man says pointedly to the reporter “It turns out rubies don’t burn.” At this the reporter asks how he is doing psychologically. He answers, “Excited…” There is a quiet moment before he continues. He says, “It was a gift,” followed by another quiet moment. He then compares his home to a storage unit. With a calm yet joyful voice he continues to explain, “A storage unit is full of un-made decisions; having my house burn has cleansed me of all my problems.” The reporter seems a bit flustered and stumbling at this point and she asks, “But now you have new ones, don’t you?” The man replies with lighthearted laughter, “Yes, sure I have some new ones, but you know the saying, ‘It’s like turning a page in a book’? Well, I’m turning the page.”
It was audible to me that what the man shared in this interview was his deeply felt truth.
In his voice I felt a clear sense that he had awakened to something precious in himself and about life, and he was enjoying the feeling of being free of so many old things and constructs that had been weighing him down. I could feel him marvelling at his feelings around alighting on new terrain and making a new beginning in his life. His voice was full of appreciation – appreciation that the fire had offered him an extent nothing else could have: the chance to start afresh with more clarity and a greater chance to do things differently.
Even feeling all of this, I was tempted to write it off thinking, “Oh, he must have money and that’s why he can afford to have a good attitude: he can afford to be philosophical because he can start a new life without the stress of homelessness and destitution…” – and on a very practical level this may be true. On a very physical level, starting from scratch with no money is a very real and tremendous difference to getting disaster relief or an insurance cheque to rebuild…
But then I remembered the stories I’ve heard of people who have been through unbelievably horrible things: slavery, having their children taken away, people who we would say have ‘lost everything’, and yet they not only returned themselves to a loving life but a way of being that had joy and which inspired those around them. So, what if, in facing his imminent death and in feeling such a cleansing away of all his old possessions, comforts and indecisions, this man totally understood the symbolism that gems don’t burn? What if, as huge, daunting and massively challenging as it can be to house and care for our bodies, the thing this man has just re-discovered is even greater?
And if there is something greater, deeper and more settling than the security of a home, if there is something that brings with it a sense of joy and freedom, it would be worth connecting to, no? Do we need a fire to help us feel it or can we simply make the choice to start letting go of all that holds us away from feeling it: all that keeps us in the density and smallness we have accepted as normal, and simply re-connect with the Love that we already are?
“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” ~ Helen Keller
We live in a security-based society… and yet the wise words of Helen Keller expose this concept as being mostly an illusion, as something impossible to hold onto. Isn’t the striving for security one of the many ways we try to fight nature? In these few words Helen Keller makes the point that we cannot actually avoid danger and that trying to outsmart it or protect ourselves from it cannot actually work. What I see is that orienting our life around efforts to cushion ourselves from danger and discomfort manifests its own guarantee of certain dangers.
I know that when I have favoured security over following what I felt deep down was true for me, it has brought with it its own set of ills: constructs which were detrimental to my ability to live my life in full. What if all the many comforts and protections we use expose us to a slow and seeping kind of danger where we end up existing instead of embracing life. I know that when I have felt insecure, I was focussing on getting my security from the outside and this contributed to my body being in levels of stagnation, hiding, contraction and slow decay. But once I sought and discovered the sense of wellbeing inside me, I have been able to accept and embrace the uncertainties of life with a level of integrity and vitality I did not know I could have before, where growth and evolution are a natural and ever-expanding process.
We need to understand with great compassion where our need and search for security, comfort and safety comes from, and I would say that our world’s problems of greed come from the same place, so it is worth exploring on many great accounts.
We need to know the True warmth we can live from when we feel the wholeness-of-our-being that we all hold in our core. We need to reunite with the steadiness we have when we feel part-of-it-all. We deserve to remember a known way of being where we feel our connection with all others and where we feel the support of an explicitly Loving Nature that is inside and all around us.
We need to know what life can be like when we are in touch with the deep wisdom within ourselves instead of feeling empty of who we are, shaken with the insecurity the illusion-of-aloneness leaves us in, weak with anxiety and reactive to life. We need to see others doing this so that we know we too can choose to live from this loving centre where we can very naturally stay with ourselves, feel the Love and Joy of who we are and know how to respond to life in each moment.
By Jo Elmer, Domestic Magician for Shared Living Spaces, Oakland, CA USA
Further Reading:
Our Diamond Within
Shining Like a Diamond
Appreciation in What I don’t Have
I question what is the security we seek and try to hang onto and at what cost to our health and well being? There is also that feeling that we want to control life I have found out to my detriment that security and trying to control life bogs us down so that we do not really live at all but just exist from day to day. So I completely understand what this man is talking about he is no longer weighed down by all the constructs that over the years had taken over so that they were dominating and controlling his life.
I agree Jo, observing others when they have “lost” things, is actually a blessing. It’s an offering of starting something new/fresh.
When we really look at our births, we are born, naked full of wisdom. We are not born with a house, a car, a wallet and so forth. So why be attached to those things that can only bring on misery. When inside every one of us, we have the god that has never left us – our Soul…
An inspirational and beautiful sharing, of how this man was after he lost his home, and almost his life.
It is inspirational. He’s at that age, that life isn’t invincible and to settle into humbleness and appreciation of what we do have that is temporary on loan, till we move on…
Gems don’t burn, but the Gem inside us all is an eternal flame of Love!
Often I question what part of me feels secure when trying to seek or hold onto security. It must be a small part if the rest of me feels like a nervous wreck or all tight and tense. Satisfying that small part comes at a great cost to all the rest.
Beautiful that the man saw the blessing in this and in sharing it with others gave them an opportunity to also see everything in a different way. It felt so freeing what he shared. On reflection how much do we hold onto that we really don’t need to, wouldn’t it be amazing if we could let go so early of things without having to have something in happen.
Yes, how much do we hold onto ‘things’, and indeed what a gift the fire was to the man as he himself shared.
Absolutely Jo, when we are prepared to understand that is life and it is worth exploring the purpose then we can come to a True understand of purpose. Purpose can come in many ways and it can be said that appreciation can bring True-purpose, but first before appreciation we have to be living in Joy, then with this understanding, and being appreciative has also a confirming factor that come with authority, so when we are living in Joy and thus understandably we are also feeling the authority and that confirms the appreciative-ness that we are connected to, then as we have all three together (Appreciation, authority and confirmation) we have True-purpose. And some time it takes something like a fire so we have the “space” to bring out the Joy in a person!
To read this makes me realise that everything we have here is materialistic things and, even a ruby cannot be taken by a body when it ceases to exist. Unnecessary arguments take place over materialistic things when the gold soul, is right in front of you.
Even now I realise I have too many possessions and when I declutter, I don’t miss the things I give away, it is replaceable or forgotten.
I would love to live more minimum-listically and over time, I have a clear out and the space it creates is unbelievable, very joyous to be around. We have much to learn about life and what it has to offer, everything around it, is a learning for growth whether it is perceived as “good” or perceived as “bad” – no different to Helen Keller’s quote.
I knew a lady who had lost her belongings to a house fire in California and she was very similar to the gentleman in the story. She had such a calm presence and saw the value of being alive and that the things could be replaced. She had no money and everything in her new home were things given to her or bought in the charity shop.
It really brings it home the sense of security we place on our belongings and the illusion in that.
Yes, the false sense of security we place on our belongings, and what an illusion that is.
I know someone who could say they lost everything in this security based, material world we live in. But what they didn’t lose because it could not be taken away was their connection to the Universe and God. That is the greatest treasure we have and I am learning is the only one worth holding onto.
Yes I agree Mary. The only thing I would add is that the awesome thing about this treasure – our connection to the Universe and God – is that we do not even have to hold onto it. It is absolutely always there, ready and waiting for us to tap into and resource it.
Mary I love your comment. We are part of God and the Universe and there is nothing more magnificence than this, the materialistic things weigh us down and be who we truly are not.
What an amazing learning, that no matter what is taken away from us we always have our connection with God and the Universe, and that is everything.
So-called security (in the form of material effects) is nothing but. Otherwise why would we make such efforts to hold onto it?
What a beautiful reflection that man gave to the reporter – “Well, I’m turning the page.””. If we were able to view life’s ‘mistakes; as opportunities to change our outlook and travel a new path, we would all be much richer.
Agreed Sue. I am coming to realise that the only ‘mistakes’ we make are when we are not open to learning from them. And when we are, there is no space for guilt, shame or regret which are killers.
There are really no mistakes, just learning – are we open to what we continually can learn?
“We need to know what life can be like when we are in touch with the deep wisdom within ourselves ” So true Jo. And it feels so very different – far different from the security we are encouraged to attain.
“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” It is an irony that as parents we try and protect our children by either lying to them or withholding certain information from them, when they can feel everything that is going on anyway. When we do this however we are negating a child’s natural wisdom because if things are expressed in a way that is sensitive to where they are at and to their needs, we do not need to cushion them from the knowledge of the corruption and greed that manifests so strongly in life or indeed of anything negative that is encountered. If they are to tackle it as adults and not be afraid of it or withdraw when they encounter it, then they need to be aware of it within a family that holds them in love as equals in the wisdom they hold, in the knowledge and support of everything they already bring by being who they are; powerhouses in their own right learning to navigate from a sense of self worth not feeling lesser because when they were little their parents taught them they were too young/innocent/naive to know.
“It is an irony that as parents we try and protect our children by either lying to them or withholding certain information from them, when they can feel everything that is going on anyway.” And as you say we are then negating what they feel. This encourages them to disbelieve their own feelings – and so they grow up, as I did, not trusting themselves. Thus the cycle continues. The way we live is’t working. Why don’t we give another way a try?!
Very few children and teenagers that I have encountered actually embody a completely natural inner confidence that stems from a total knowing of who they are and what they bring. To me this feels like an utter abuse of each generation. The sooner we are able to admit this the sooner we can give another way a go.
It is so true that security does not happen in nature not in the way we have made it to be, sure if birds have spent ages making a nest and somehow it gets damaged they might feel something and then start again or if an animal loses a loved one it may mourn but in the way we have made and use security it is a form of control and stops us from feeling all there is to feel and being all there is to be. I love that the man is excited about life after his house has burnt down it just goes to show how security and attachments can actually hold us down and back.
Thank you Jo for letting us all ‘meet’ this gentleman. It always touches me when I read what he said after the fire at his home. A moment of inspiration about how we can approach life and the realisation that what we consider to be normal behaviour (as in more common) is not necessarily our natural.
I love this too not only for what you share Matilda but for those gorgeous snippets of love and truth that can be expressed by us all and can be found in the most unexpected of places.
I can understand what the gentleman shared, how wonderful he could see the opportunity the situation presented, ‘appreciation that the fire had offered him an extent nothing else could have: the chance to start afresh with more clarity and a greater chance to do things differently.’
True security is only found in our connection with our Soul.
And what I love about feeling this connection to Soul is that it is a surrendering to something so much grander than human life and there are absolutely no protective measures (bars, hardness, judgement…) in this at all.
Sometimes losing everything is an opportunity to take stock and look at what our true priorities are.
Some people have lost everything and yet come back with more love and joy, ‘and yet they not only returned themselves to a loving life but a way of being that had joy and which inspired those around them.’
Years ago when I left a long term relationship I only took what I could get in my little car. So it was a completely fresh start. Sometimes it is worth seemingly to loose everything because it gives us a great space to start again, turn over a new page as the man in the interview said. I’m learning to keep letting go of everything that I have an attachment to, we are taught from young to value ourselves based only on what we offer to others, but recently I have discovered this is an attachment that justifies who and what I am. This is a false way of living I’m selling myself short if I can only value myself by what I bring to others. This is a reduced way of thinking and living but they are constructs that many of us take on. It’s interesting to catch the lack of appreciation but so many of us live life with this lack of appreciation. We are worth so much more than we have been led to believe. Humanity has been lied to on so many different levels
it’s not until someone points out the lie that it is possible to see it as a lie and then we have a choice to continue with the lie or make changes to deconstruct the lie and thereby this false way of living.
Fire can destroy, but in nature, it is the only thing that causes some pine trees to release the seeds from their pine cones for the next generation. What if we feel the fire that burns within us all that is the fertile land to grow the seeds of our evolution.
Security is not something we can own or have control over in our favor. Over the years I’ve learnt that it’s not even protecting from that which I assume is a threat or danger because that in itself is also a lie.
Wise words Leigh, security is sold to us at a premium lie.
So true Leigh, Security is sold to us – to keep us in our place. It can be threatened and removed at any moment. The only true security is to be found in our inner heart. That can never be taken away from us.
When disaster strikes we are always reminded of the really important things in life and often surprised to find that they are things that are not of this material physical world.
I have found that when disaster strikes, once we have got over the initial shock, it is an opportunity to let go of an ideal or belief we have been holding on to so deeply. The disaster helps us to see that this ideal or belief, or form of behaviour is false. With the inevitable shake up we are given space to feel, to ponder and to reflect and from there to make different choices. Whilst the disaster may not seem or feel pleasant inevitably we can look back on them and see them as a blessing for the healing that they offer.
Often we read or hear about people who have a huge crisis and either react negatively or rejoice in the gift that it is – this man truly did get the message and the significance of what had come to pass.
Striving for security is false security.
Striving for security is an external movement whereas finding security is an internal movement.
And once we establish that inner movement we have settlement and then we have the sense of security.
“A storage unit is full of un-made decisions….” this comment really struck me – how often do we put-off making a decision and ‘park’ it (it being something physical or immaterial) somewhere and thereby accumulate so much stuff that we get burdened by it and held back from moving forward? What an inspirational blog.
“And if there is something greater, deeper and more settling than the security of a home…”. This is a great line to explore, we are capping ourselves in life to see security as ‘it’ when something far greater within ourselves is on offer. I remember my trip to Vietnam and the local families I made friends with, they had so little in terms of material wealth yet the joy was palpable, as was the whole community’s deep love and affection for children and their openness to others. Material wealth and security is no guarantee of true joy and settlement within ourselves, these are just pictures we’ve been sold to strive for when the true gold is within ourselves.
In fact many who have material wealth and security are far from being joyful. I can relate what you say to some people I met in Vietnam, ‘I remember my trip to Vietnam and the local families I made friends with, they had so little in terms of material wealth yet the joy was palpable, as was the whole community’s deep love and affection for children and their openness to others.’
Melinda I can feel the deviousness in what you are saying we have been sold a lie that keeps us all perpetually looking outside of ourselves when actually the glory is within us all we have to do is tap into it. But we have been entranced like moths to the bright outer lights of life.
Loosing a home must be a challenging experience, but what is already inside us will always be there forever.
If we are not connected to what is already inside then we will never be at home, no matter where we reside or the type of house we reside in.
A droplet of sweet wisdom was offered by this man and for all those that heard it and now thanks to Jo reading it we are offered the insight and opportunity to review our ‘storage unit… full of un-made decisions’. Simplicity is our natural way; the trimmings of human life tend to complicate and bury us.
A few days after reading this wonderful blog a very old friend of mine lost everything in a fire, and although he is one who doesn’t have the means to replace what he has lost, there was no wanting people to feel sorry for him. His response was so inspiring as he shared that he has been given the opportunity to start over again, and at least he and his precious animals were safe. This is a man who has given so much, unconditionally so, to the community he lives in for many years and now the community is rallying around to support him; their way of saying thank you. Such a beautiful example, that out of what we often label as a tragedy, can come so much love and appreciation.
This is beautiful Ingrid. The humility and humbleness this man expressed is inspiring; a man who has supported a community is now on the receiving end of it – what we live returns to us.
I agree Ingrid and interestingly what we often refer to as a triumph is in actual fact a tragedy. We see sporting endeavours as ‘triumphs’ but what in truth is triumphant about beating another, we see passing exams as a triumph but if it’s at the expense of our health, then is it really? So this begs the deeper question ‘what in truth is a triumph and what in truth is a tragedy?
A beautiful example of how we are looked after, it makes you ponder why so many of us crave security from the outside, ‘I know that when I have felt insecure, I was focussing on getting my security from the outside and this contributed to my body being in levels of stagnation, hiding, contraction and slow decay. But once I sought and discovered the sense of wellbeing inside me, I have been able to accept and embrace the uncertainties of life with a level of integrity and vitality I did not know I could have before, where growth and evolution are a natural and ever-expanding process.’
What an amazing blog, I love this story, it reminds us of what is true in life and what we need to value most.
Thank you Jo, this is very beautiful and very inspiring.
“And if there is something greater, deeper and more settling than the security of a home, if there is something that brings with it a sense of joy and freedom, it would be worth connecting to, no?” Through Serge Benhayon re-connecting me to the teachings of the Ageless Wisdom I have been able to the love I am that is far greater than any security of a home.
I love the nudeness this blog invites me to feel. The experience of raw clearing of all that is not needed anymore. This connects me with the essence of Life. Lightness and simplicity is what remains after all..
When everything is stripped away, what are we left with? To have such an experience before death has been clearly profound for this gentleman. When there is nothing left we have to travel inside and if we allow it, we can access the gem that is within. Easy perhaps to say when I have not lost everything but in knowing about this inner gorgeousness there is less investment in outer possessions and their comfort. Letting go of my own need for security is probably still a work in progress.. looking at where I still control a great signpost in allowing this to unfold.
Jo, what really stands out in this blog is your love for people and joy that you felt for someone who was able to see the inner beauty of something in the middle of what seemed to be a complete tragedy. This is the gift in this piece and shows us all that we can see that same inner essence in others even if their outer behavior shows otherwise.
True Michael.
I meet so many people these days who are giving themselves permission to love the person underneath the issues and beliefs and I see how this gives others permission to do this too…
and we are just dying to simply love each other!
yes – I think we are dying to simply love each other! We allow so much that is unnecessary to get in the way of this however, but once worked through there is actually nothing more simple and gorgeous than to keep an open heart with everyone we meet.
The way we see and understand life is the true jewel. For so many of us, reductionism and cynicism have been accepted as ‘that’s just life’. Yet as this story shows, there’s so much more on offer if we are willing to take off the familiar blinkers of comfort.
When we are open to life and do not react or have attachments or investments it gives us more freedom and space within to be able to truly feel and understand what we need to in order to move forward. It is gorgeous to hear what this man felt and how he has embraced what he has been given. Truly inspiring for all, especially when we realise there is more to life than possessions.
Yes, Vicky so much more. Once we realise this, no possession could ever replace that deep connection within that settles and holds us with a love that is divine.
Returning to a way of being that has love and connection as its foundation is what we all ultimately seek, ‘We deserve to remember a known way of being where we feel our connection with all others and where we feel the support of an explicitly Loving Nature that is inside and all around us.’
‘Sometimes when we don’t know how to begin again, the universe steps in to show us the way”.
Yes. Actually I would say the universe always steps in to show us the way. The sometimes bit is whether we listen or not!?
If we don’t listen initially, then it speaks louder until we do listen.
We need to know the True warmth we can live from when we feel the wholeness-of-our-being that we all hold in our core’. To feel this deep connection with our soul is exquisite and unmatched by anything outside of ourselves.
What a great read. I have really been considering how we are trapped by the need for security and yet we need so little in life when it is peeled right back.
Reading this I’m reflecting on a couple of occasions when I’ve had a home taken away. Different circumstance but the result was I could never live there again and one was especially dear to me. Letting go of my attachments has been a process but I’ve always been open to the fact that it had happened so I could let go of the past and live more fully in the present.
Sometimes the big challenges in our lives turn out to be opportunities and the willingness to see with this space and perspective in the moment could make ‘difficult’ situations simply what is happening and therefore simpler to deal with.
Often, it’s only when we feel we’ve lost everything, that we begin to appreciate what is of true value in life.
Yes agreed. But better that we know and appreciate the true value in life first and not having to loose something in order understand this!
It is important to reflect what is of true value, ‘we too can choose to live from this loving centre where we can very naturally stay with ourselves, feel the Love and Joy of who we are and know how to respond to life in each moment.’
Every catastrophe clears what is untrue and seeds a new beginning.
Many will relate to this, as I do. I remember waking up after a hysterectomy, aged thirty-nine and feeling relief, pressures and pictures I’d placed on myself about having children gone.. Instead of experiencing a deep sense of loss, I felt a load lightened had set me free.
Very inspiring and cool, Kehinde. Thank you for sharing this.
‘gems don’t burn,’ this says it all. What remains when the physical is harmed or destroyed is our inner essence, our sense of true self, always with us and cannot be damaged regardless of what happens.
Awareness of our true essence is just a whisker away and this blog reflects this to us all. Whilst some are aware and working on it, some are experiencing the deepening and confirming gift that a ‘seeming’ tragedy brings. This has been beautiful to feel and read and I deeply appreciate all the deepening comments that have unfolded since.
I love this blog, I keep coming across it as I browse through – the wisdom is immense. We hold on ever so tightly to how we want our lives to be, carve out an image and strive to achieve it – until a fire happens and burns it all down. What a blessing, what a freeing experience – unfortunately it has to happen through a disaster sometimes, but when we find the ruby in the dust, when we taste freedom we have a game-changer.
Yes Viktoria, ‘we hold on ever so tightly’ to how we think we want things…things that do not help us feel our true sense of security… In the opposite way, fire can behave as a very true form of Love, offering us a chance to get free of what keeps us from our own truth.
I have spent a lifetime trying to achieve a place called home but what if I’ve got it all going on already and I just complicated the matter? That’s what it’s seeming like today. I was very attached to a place and voluntary uprooted myself. Walking around near where I live now, but a place I’ve never been to before, I’m appreciating the only barriers to feeling at home are the ones I put in place. My home is with me and this is very beautiful to let go of finding the place that makes this so. Reminds me of how I used to search for the one, the partner that would complete me!
Karin I love this little pot of gold in a comment
“I’m appreciating the only barriers to feeling at home are the ones I put in place. My home is with me and this is very beautiful to let go of finding the place that makes this so.”
If we carry our home/ love in our heart with us wherever we go what a blessing we are giving to all those that we meet along our way. True love is the most beautiful gift to share.
Karen says “My home is with me…”
This statement sings to my heart because I have had enough glimpses of this truth to know it is so,
…but I am still working on feeling it more of the time…
“I’m appreciating the only barriers to feeling at home are the ones I put in place.” My home is my heart and the only thing(s) that can keep me away from that are the walls that I have erected for false protection.
Anything that is of true value can never be altered, ever and that’s a fact.
Problem is we often place a higher value on the things that are impermanent.
Yep like our looks. We spend an inordinate amount of time, money and energy thinking about and trying to improve our looks but the thing is, if we focused on the qualities in life that are permanent then our looks get taken care of by themselves because we are imbued with beauty from within.
If we were to place importance on things that are permanent then we would restore the natural order to life in place of the current disorder that currently abounds.
Yes Alexis, a little know truth shared: ‘if we focused on the qualities in life that are permanent then our looks get taken care of by themselves because we are imbued with beauty from within’. Many people I know, look and feel younger than their biological age without the aid of cosmetic cover ups and procedures.
“We need to know the True warmth we can live from when we feel the wholeness-of-our-being that we all hold in our core”. Beautifully expressed Jo, and one knowing that will absolutely change our lives, so just imagine how life would be if we we raised to know it from day one. It is what we hold within “our core” which has the power to fuel our life in the most extraordinary ways.
To me the biggest danger is that we fell for comfort and security over a life of deep devotion to true love and I don’t fully understand why we did this.
And of course comfort is the biggest lie of all, sold from day one as being ‘It.’ it intoxicates the human psyche and moves us away from purpose. There is no comfort in comfortable lives, beneath the surface lies deep dissatisfaction and disease. The biggest evil is our own inability to discern truth from lies.
Well expressed Kehinde and the veil that clouds our ability to discern is comfort.
What you write here is truly beautiful. We have forgotten that it’s possible to live life and be loving. That it doesn’t all have to be a hassle, a struggle. We have forgotten that there is a natural beauty in all of us, a lightness and joy. That we don’t have to be stressed or worried about everything in life. If we remember and bring that in our lives, life will be very different.
You have tuned into something very inspiring and wise Jo, thank you for sharing your insights about security, and the beauty of connecting to the inner heart where the space is so grand.
That interview would have touched the lives of all who heard it. A spark of light and wisdom that breaks through so many beliefs and fears. The confusion of the the journalist highlights to me how stuck in our patterns we are and that we would have been more comfortable with the man being devastated and needing rescuing.
Yes, right in the midst of this city working and struggling to recover from the fires this interview offered a different perspective, a different understanding of what could be on offer for some people… for us all?
And yes exactly, it may be very common for us to feel more comfortable with a victim mentality than a person who is allowing themselves to be liberated out of it.
When we live from truth there is a beautiful responsiveness to life and when we don’t live from truth then our reactions to life are either pre-planned, ordered, orchestrated and controlled or knee-jerk. When we are responsive to life this then sets up a call and response to and with life that is alive and vibrant but when we live from automation, hesitancy, reaction or control then life has no choice other than to dish up the same response in return.
A very solid truth has been shared here that for eons we have neglected to accept, for the truth has and will always reside deep within all of us, the only thing required is for each person to recognise, deeply honour the absolute beauty that is within and allow this love, our true power and strength, to enlighten and guide the way we live in our lives. Something that no one can do for another. However, as Jo shared, the living of our ‘Ruby Inside’ needs to be lived by those who have the absolute knowing and appreciation of this way of being in our world, so all can see it as a way of living that can be not only attained, but constantly deepened, appreciated and surrendered to.
When the fire with-in is reignited it can take the most calamitous event as you have shared Jo, and in the-awaken of our Soul-full-essences we do not react in these situations so we feel the blessing of what heaven has to offer.
Wow, what an amazing blog, great topic Jo. I hadn’t really looked at security but the feeling within me was that security was fear based and more like an encasement or prison, something that was actually deeply insecure because how can we invest in something that will always change and to some degree we can’t control or influence? We make an investment in the outer material world being a certain way, and not in relying on the innate wisdom and power we have within ourselves.
Really loved reading this. Security is never far from my thoughts and it’s wonderful to start letting it go and living from my truth, discovering that and not hiding it. Letting go of regret and starting a new page is possible any day.
Jo I was caught by your words that we have accepted the smallest of lives, we have reduced ourselves so much that we are on a conveyer belt getting through life just to make a living rather than actually living all that we are meant to be. We are so lost we do not know just how lost we are. And then we get the wake up call which this gentle-man had which has brought him back to what life is truly about.
Really enjoyed reading this today, thank you. Given me food for thought about where I seek security and hold back.
Security, comfort and safety all share the same bed as greed. Certainly something to ponder on and makes you think twice about which choice you make.
True security is the knowing that you belong to something far grander than this physical world, far grander that is found in the stars – and that when you connect to this and know your true source then this is all that is indeed needed to handle whatever life comes to deliver to you. The soul works in practical ways and knows how to deal with the most mundane and most extreme situations, and this is the true ‘security’ that we all seek – the council of the Soul and its holding that is forever asking us to realise the All that we are.
So well said Henrietta.
You have summed up a huge revelation in these few sentences.
I feel that more and more people are starting to re-connect to what you state here that:
“True security is the knowing that you belong to something far grander than this physical world, far grander that is found in the stars- and that when you connect to this and know your true source then this is all that is indeed needed to handle whatever life comes to deliver to you.”
But this is still a far away concept to so many as we have been living away from this knowing for so long…
Dis-comfort is the loving gift we experience when we are living/accepting less than Love because it guides us back to the Truth.
I agree Henrietta. We are eternal beings who have temporarily forgotten that they are eternal.
Jo, this is an exquisite blog that really does expose the illusion of security that we have built around us in life. We see our homes as permanent, we see our jobs as secure, but in reality these can all easily fall away (natural disasters, reduncancy etc). Same for relationships – be it family friends or spouses – these too are not guaranteed for life might have something different in store (deaths from accidents, or cancer or another illness or incident etc). When we invest in this security aspect of life, we often do so with an entitlement and we then expect that due to our investment, the thing we have invested must be guaranteed in some way and then it is hard to accept if this does not actually come about. But life is and has always delivered that which we need in order to learn grow and evolve. Security does not teach us that, but keeps us ingrained in habits and patterns that say no to growth and true evolution.
Entitlement. – now there’s a thing. Having expectations and pictures feeds this sense of how “things should be”. When life turns out differently to what we expect we often look for someone to blame for our predicament. Rarely does humanity look to its choices, something I have learned to do from Universal Medicine – and continue to do so.
Well said Henrietta, we give our power to our lives needing to be a certain way, but it’s actually certain that the pictures we are invested in around material security and relationships won’t play out that way. We can set ourselves up for distress because we don’t foster our soulful connection and true inner power, which is a way of living that is loving and responsive and viewing life as opportunities to grow and evolve, instead if we don’t receive the expected or hoped for outcome and we can crumble into devastation.
I have worked on letting go of needing security, but I find at times that it can still rear its head in the most pernicious of ways. I love what you say about security here Henrietta, as yes – it offers us no true growth and evolution, but instead keeps us devolved holding on tightly to what we have and know with no room for expansion and new perspectives.
There is no such thing as security, as you say. I got caught up in the wild fires in Portugal a year ago and we had to evacuate our property. Due to the foresight of the owner there were no catastrophic injuries and only one barn was destroyed. Many lost everything and some their lives. We never know what will happen. So best to live each day to the full, with love. I am learning to appreciate myself, those around me and what I currently have more and more.
It can be so easy to feel like a victim of life but we can choose to accept what happens and appreciate all that is in our lives to appreciate.
One way is such good medicine while the other always brings with it more trouble!
I loved reading your blog Jo. Staying in touch with the deep wisdom we have inside every single one of us is worth so much more than the busy-ness and striving for security and reward that we see out in the world.
Dear Jo Elmer – I found reading this article so very endearing, touching the depth within. Thanks for sharing it with us all – so many key pointers, wisdoms and truths felt in my body.
Thank you Jo for a wonderful anecdote and the man’s words of wisdom that remind us of the importance of surrender and letting go. As the saying goes, nature abhors a vacuum, and so it is guaranteed that when we make space by letting go (or having things taken from us) then more is able to come in.
Thank you for sharing Jo, so often we can see things one of 2 ways either disaster and devastation or an opportunity for a new. And the more we embrace what is on offer the more we get to see and appreciate the gift we have been given.
Tho in my experience it may take a while – even years – for the appreciation that such an opportunity can offer. Coming to study with Universal Medicine has enabled me to fast track this learning. .
Me too Sue, it has fast tracked what I have already known deep within but found hard to fully express and appreciate.
Beautiful sharing Jo – in my experience huge life events offer us a huge chance to let go. We often say they are horrible or terrible things – but are they really? Or is the true horror our stubborn persistence to ignore what is shared with us there?
What a gorgeous question Joseph.
“…is the true horror our stubborn persistence to ignore what is shared with us there?”
I have realized there are constant opportunities being offered me to learn what I need to learn so I can move-on and grow… and for sure, I have brought about more horribleness by my own stubborness than all the things I was reacting to ever could have…
Love your comment and question Joseph. Has me stop and ponder just how much of my ill experiences in life are due to exactly that, ‘a stubborn refusal’ to see and embrace the huge chance that is offered.
Yes indeed, the horror of our stubborn persistence to ignore what is being shared with us!! ouch this is one for the mirror!
Jo, really love this blog! Lots of gems in it. ‘What I see is that orienting our life around efforts to cushion ourselves from danger and discomfort manifests its own guarantee of certain dangers.’ I can so relate to the stagnation in comfort.
Wow, this is a gem and the deep wisdom of this man is very touching, offering us all a lesson in acceptance of a greater All that far surpasses security and looking after self – first, second and third.
A material ruby does not burn but the fire in the inner-heart burns brightly.
Such a lovely story. There are so many situations in life that we often see as ‘bad’ like illness, loosing a job, loosing a home or breaking up with a partner and many people can look back and see those moments as turning points or times when the so called ‘bad’ event turned out for the better. This is definitely something I’ve been noticing in my life – my attitude or judgement that certain things are ‘bad’ and certain things are ‘good’ – but actually I can see them all as opportunities…
Yes, what we make of every situation in life affects not only ourselves, but everyone around us. Our attitude to life events is all important. Looking at disasters in life as opportunities for change casts a whole new light on events.