Living like the Minoans

Yesterday I wrote about the joy of life that shines through Minoan culture and since then I have been thinking. I believe it’s important to pass on the knowledge that it’s possible to live in celebration of life, without conflict, fear and angst, but example is more powerful than words, so am I living in this way myself?

I’ve certainly been working on it. Recently I read the brilliant book The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, who explains very simply that when we feel pain, it’s based in experience of the past (which no longer exists) and when we feel fear and anxiety, it’s based in possible experience of the future (which hasn’t happened yet). So the only reality is the present moment and, even though we may have ‘life situations’ that are challenging, we have the ability to feel ok in every present moment.

 

I think too about what we believe life is meant to be – how it’s ‘supposed to’ unfold. How often we think that life would be better if only we had some different or new person, circumstance, activity or material possession. But we all know that even when this longed for change does come along, another desire, longing or need pops up to take its place and satisfaction is never reached.

The simple truth that I’m learning is that life is not linear, it’s really not about striving until you reach some finish line and saying that’s it, I’ve made it. We believe that other people have done that, but in fact none of us has – because that’s not built into the system of being human.

Being human is actually meant to be a journey full of varied experiences and constant expansion of awareness. There is no destination, no right or wrong turnings, the journey is the purpose. Well, we all know that the stuff of life just happens without us doing a thing and we have to keep plowing through it, so phew, none of us can fail! We’re all getting it right, making our journeys through life and probably having experiences that we chose and created on some level to meet our need to know how that feels.

I also learned from Japanese wabi-sabi philosophy that built into the journey are imperfection and impermanence.

We are actually designed to be less than perfect and every individual foible has its own beauty. We see that in nature, why not accept it in ourselves? Doesn’t mean that we ignore our darker tendencies, just that we can accept and become aware that they exist without judging ourselves.

 

As soon as I turned a neutral light on my undesired behaviour, the stuff that was making me unhappy, it somehow dissolved in the light of my awareness. I used to think that I was right and other people had a problem that I may need to help them fix, but I’ve stopped needing to defend myself or be right because that just makes me isolated in my illusion. We are all simply human and I know I’m still imperfect because that’s how it’s meant to be.

And what about impermanence? Built-in impermanence means that change is meant to be constantly happening. Of course the scenery on a journey changes with every step we take, every mile we drive, so we can see changing events as an opportunity that we have helped to create rather than a disaster with which we cannot cope. This was another powerful lesson for me when feeling grief, learning to live alone and facing my fears of survival.

Well, I seem to be well into philosophical mode now so I’m going to sit and look at the mountains, sky and sea and think more about the Minoans and my own life. Watch this space.