Hello and welcome to Five Minutes in Nature with me Liz Scott and it's a really watery sunshine here in the evening of this November day and there really is a sense of winter coming into the air now.
There's been rain,
It's been cold,
There's a little bit of blue sky just to remind us what it is when we're not in the thick of the mist and the grayness and the winds and the storms but there's a little bit of tantalizing blue sky just to remind us that yes there is some sunshine still available even though we feel like we are moving right into the depths of winter and today as I'm up here on Dartmoor I'm walking quite quickly just to keep myself warm but I'm just pausing because I want to share something with you.
As I was walking I was reminded of being on the retreat and the first day of the retreat that we were at in Spain we were meeting different people,
Different people from all over the world and I remember sitting next to somebody and my initial thought about this person was like oh I don't think we really connect,
I don't think there's a place of resonance between us.
Now looking back what I can see very clearly is that I along with her and probably all the new participants on the course we were all very much in our noisy thinking that often happens when we start a new group or we're with people and we're starting from scratch there's a lot of noisy thinking and when I've got noisy thinking and you've got noisy thinking well it's harder to experience that sense of connection and it's always just worth remembering that because initial impressions can often be a little bit of ego meeting ego rather than heart meeting heart and sure enough I met this lady I thought not sure we're going to really have much to talk about or we kind of we operate in a different kind of way and sure enough after a couple of days I realized that she was a wonderful woman,
Strong woman,
Was engaged with working with people that I was so curious about,
Was wise,
Was wanting to share and we've actually exchanged numbers and are going to keep in contact as we continue our conversations and journeys in the world and I guess it's just a reminder really when we meet people are we meeting somebody from our ego or are we meeting them from our heart and when I meet somebody from my ego and they meet me from their ego then it's really likely that we'll find many things that we judge about that person and they judge about me that we kind of think now we're not really a very good fit however when just one of us is meeting the other person from a heart place from a settled mind then it means it gives the relationship a chance to eventually find some common ground and connection and of course when both minds settle that's the best possible chance to feel a sense of connection when I'm in a settled mind and often when I'm in a professional capacity maybe I'm training or I'm facilitating in a group there are people in the group that I experience and they are in their egos and because I'm in a professional capacity I'm deeply grounded and rooted and settled in the way I turn up there are people in the group that I might look at and realize they're probably not people I'm going to become the best of friends with but from that place of love within me I just feel a sense of love and connection and compassion to everybody.
I wonder and this is my wondering for myself I wonder how I might go through the world living from that space living from a space where I actually just feel a sense of love and compassion for someone even if I don't feel like we're a good fit for friends for life.
Is it possible?
So today is just a little reminder just when you're in unsettled thinking or your mind is a bit noisy that's a little bit like saying you're in your ego it's likely you'll be judgmental you'll find it hard to connect to people and that's okay don't judge yourself for that just notice it and equally when somebody else is in their thinking they're going to find it hard to connect to and ultimately the question is what is it like when you are in a settled space a heart space and you reach out from behind your mask to the behind the mask of the other person what is that like?
Ask yourself what it would be like if as much as possible you were able to live from that loving settled space what would life look like then?
