What is the Work to me?

[Magpie]

So really, it's only after having had a taste of it, and more and more tastes, that we are able to see what the Work is, by looking back at our previous lives and comparing that 'past' with the new present. And that data can inform us about how to act NOW. We're in the same body, the same world, but our ACTIONS, the way we approach our relationship with the world, are what is different. In other words, the material we have to work with is still the same! The food we eat, the words we speak, the ground beneath our feet, the signals from our bodies and from our society. It's only how we orient to those stimuli that is different, and how we choose to respond to them.

Sure, there probably is a 'theological'/esoteric level to what is really going on. I think this is what St. Paul was getting at in his letters, but note that all his applications of that theological reality are firmly grounded in everyday life and practice: work, relationships, virtue, suffering, love.

Indeed. And with knowledge and awareness, we are enabled to make different decisions at certain points. And, as I've discussed on the K & B videos, decisions, sometimes even small ones, can, step by step, lead a person into a new reality.

I agree. I think it's important to maintain eye contact with our journey. I look back over my life at all the tiny decisions, or even the great disasters that I thought would derail me forever-many of those "disasters" turned out to be the best thing that could have happened because it put me in a position of movement, of decision making. I had to make a choice. And like CNS said, sometimes the choice is a simple one-it's the work manifest in our everyday-it's doing the dishes, it's reading to my family, washing their clothes, it's focusing on the moment. Sometimes the choices are larger in scale, of course, but it's the tiny ones that add up and shape us. Big decisions aren't made every day-those little ones are. It reminds me of the book Scattered, by Gabor Mate-he talks about the importance of being "present"- present with our children, our spouses, etc. And making the tiny choice to just Be Present makes a huge difference.
Everyone has a different journey and when we come together and network and share those journeys, we provide support and encouragement for those starting their journeys, and even those far into theirs.
I am always humbled in hearing about the walks of others. I appreciate the knowledge shared.
And I second the sentiment-the more I read, the more I realize I do not know, which can perhaps be intimidating, and at the same time-filled with wondrous possibilities. And it's a simple tiny choice to open a book, watch a video, read a post, and pass it on-all helping us to stay grounded and move along our path.
Thanks for sharing CNS

 

[Yas]

I think I'll print your summary and put it on my door for whenever I beat myself up over seemingly not doing enough.

I think I'll print it too!

Great summary CNS! It's a very good reminder and written in a very simple way so that people like me can understand :P

 

[Gwenllian]

I wholeheartedly agree, CNS and thank you!

It may sound strange, but maybe that is why I feel so content after doing some housework or other stuff that needed to be done. Just trying to learn to take better care of myself, my family and my surroundings is huge, at least it is to me. :)
I have been learning a lot this way and because of the lessons I start to feel less overwhelmed, more independent or in control. It is the best feeling!

 

[ggen]

No, not too preachy. You nailed it on a very practical level. ;) Your synopsis is a simple reminder that daily life, taking care of ourselves, and learning lessons is The Work. It's a piece that I think should be printed and framed. We can hang it in a spot where the both of us can view it as a daily reminder. Thank you CNS for opening up...

 

[liam1310]

CNS thanks very much for sharing your thoughts its just what I needed to hear

I was once told not so long ago by my partner sometimes Im like a child who doesn't want to learn there lessons looking back she was spot on.
Thanks to the forum and the work its shown me a whole new way of approaching life. One life ended and another started the day I found this forum and the work.
I still have a long ways to go and a lot of learning to do but as the C,s say learning is fun, well sometimes. :)

I like what you said about knowing next to nothing. That is how I feel these days. The more I read and take in, the more I realize I know nothing!

same here mooonbird

 

[PERLOU]

J'ai loué "Matrix" les 3 films car Laura en parle assez souvent dans les tomes de "L'ONDE"...
Le premier, je pense avoir compris mais les second et 3ème, que de violences, de différences de son entre les dialogues presque inaudibles quand on baisse le son qui casse les oreilles avec le volume augmenté lors des combats...
Je ne regarde pas de films violents ni de musique forte, bref, je n'ai pas apprécié...
Je n'ai pas tout compris non plus loin de là... Désolée...

I rented 'Matrix' 3 films because Laura speaks quite often in volumes of 'WAVE' ...
The first, I think I understand, but the second and the third, that of violence, differences between his almost inaudible dialogues when you drop the sound that breaks the ears with the increased volume during the fighting ...
I do not watch violent films or loud music, in short, I did not like ...
I did not understand everything either far away ... Sorry ...

 

[A Jay]

Thanks for sharing CNS

Yes, thank you CNS for sharing! Your post in combination with Scattered and Personality Shaping have helped to demystify a lot of concepts for me, and allowed me to see myself and all my little 'I's, the Work, and life in general in a whole new way. :)

 

[patty2292]

Very beautifully written CNS. A summary of this kind is very well needed :)! Thank you!

Given the triumphant academic setting here, an obvious question is how much of this work of adjusting our default setting involves actual knowledge or intellect. This question gets very tricky. Probably the most dangerous thing about an academic education -- least in my own case -- is that it enables my tendency to over-intellectualize stuff, to get lost in abstract argument inside my head, instead of simply paying attention to what is going on right in front of me, paying attention to what is going on inside me.

As I'm sure you guys know by now, it is extremely difficult to stay alert and attentive, instead of getting hypnotized by the constant monologue inside your own head (may be happening right now). Twenty years after my own graduation, I have come gradually to understand that the liberal arts cliché about "teaching you how to think" is actually shorthand for a much deeper, more serious idea: "learning how to think" really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience. Because if you cannot exercise this kind of choice in adult life, you will be totally hosed.
...
There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship -- be it JC or Allah, be it Yahweh or the Wiccan Mother Goddess, or the Four Noble Truths, or some inviolable set of ethical principles -- is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive.
...
On one level, we all know this stuff already. It's been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, epigrams, parables; the skeleton of every great story. The whole trick is keeping the truth up front in daily consciousness.
...
Our own present culture has harnessed these forces in ways that have yielded extraordinary wealth and comfort and personal freedom. The freedom all to be lords of our tiny skull-sized kingdoms, alone at the center of all creation. This kind of freedom has much to recommend it. But of course there are all different kinds of freedom, and the kind that is most precious you will not hear much talk about much in the great outside world of wanting and achieving and displaying. The really important kind of freedom involves attention and awareness and discipline, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them over and over in myriad petty, unsexy ways every day.

That is real freedom. That is being educated, and understanding how to think. The alternative is unconsciousness, the default setting, the "rat race," the constant gnawing sense of having had, and lost, some infinite thing.

It is easy for me to see this whole thing as some grand impossible goal, but time after time I see that it really is about small, every day choices, in which we can find our freedom and joy. It's just about remembering this. Keeping it alive inside of us.

Very great example of the daily form in which The Work takes place, the day to day tasks, and effort it takes to stay aware in all of them - acknowledging that i am only perceiving the days from a narrow, self centered corner of the cosmos.

 

[lilyalic]

I wholeheartedly agree, CNS and thank you!

It may sound strange, but maybe that is why I feel so content after doing some housework or other stuff that needed to be done. Just trying to learn to take better care of myself, my family and my surroundings is huge, at least it is to me. :)
I have been learning a lot this way and because of the lessons I start to feel less overwhelmed, more independent or in control. It is the best feeling!

Thanks for this, CNS, sometimes I do fall into thinking black and white about doing the work - i.e. "it's too hard" or "I'm not doing it right, I need to be doing more" etc...

That's true Mariama, I feel a lot better about myself after I've cleaned up, done the daily jobs or even when I've come home from work.

As I'm sure you guys know by now, it is extremely difficult to stay alert and attentive, instead of getting hypnotized by the constant monologue inside your own head (may be happening right now). Twenty years after my own graduation, I have come gradually to understand that the liberal arts cliché about "teaching you how to think" is actually shorthand for a much deeper, more serious idea: "learning how to think" really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience. Because if you cannot exercise this kind of choice in adult life, you will be totally hosed.

That's a truly inspirational speech, it was difficult to accept at first when I realized we have to "learn how to think", actually having to control and watch your own thoughts/mind... sometimes I fall into the pattern of wanting to simply get rid of it, when really that's giving those thoughts power. We shouldn't stride to "get rid out" certain thoughts, just alter them or see them for what they are. They are a part of us, and wanting to destroy it would simply mean rejecting that part of ourselves and lacking self-compassion.

 

[CNS]

Hi guys,

I have to say, I am so very humbled by all your responses. I teared up while reading them, thinking about the effect my words can really have on people. Thank you, everyone. I love you all.

That's a truly inspirational speech, it was difficult to accept at first when I realized we have to "learn how to think", actually having to control and watch your own thoughts/mind... sometimes I fall into the pattern of wanting to simply get rid of it, when really that's giving those thoughts power. We shouldn't stride to "get rid out" certain thoughts, just alter them or see them for what they are. They are a part of us, and wanting to destroy it would simply mean rejecting that part of ourselves and lacking self-compassion.

Yeah, wholeheartedly agree, terrific speech. Great find Carl. David Foster Wallace was spot on, and it was interesting to hear the audience laugh - almost nervously - at some of the most pertinent points. I'm sure a part of them, individually, heard the truth (or felt it), but I would imagine most of that fell on deaf ears. They seemed to sort of laugh it off like, "yep, that's just one of life's little foibles", not even realizing that there are things folks can do to make changes for the better. So, I guess I could say when the crowd laughed, I felt a sadness for them, a desperate longing for something real. If that makes sense...