“The human soul always cries out for the opposite of what is happening.  When we are alone, we long to be partnered.  When we are partnered, we romanticize about the gifts of being alone.  It’s helpful to remember the Buddhist’s first noble truth: All of experience is unsatisfactory.  The soul calls out for the opposite, because of a desire for totality- to be complete.  Not one or the other, but both.  That call is endless.”
-Paulette Pollard

I came across this quote in a cafe and was struck by the truth of it- the message resonated with me so very deeply.  For we often fall into the trap of believing that human suffering is rooted in a desire for something different, something other than what we have. When in reality, we are yearning to experience life more fully, to feel into every moment so that it can penetrate us to the core. That the power of an experience can somehow be amplified if we engage in it from every direction, rather than the single place where we stand. It is our human inclination to desire to seek the lightness and the dark. The solitude and the companionship. To live a full life, yet have plenty of time for peace and reflection.

According to Osho, a modern mystic and teacher of tantra, the key to enlightenment is neither to overindulge in nor renounce anything. We must seek to create a balance in which we can accept all things calmly, peacefully, and without attachment, control, fear, or desire. Such that objects, relationships, the entire human experience is merely one of motion, like a wave that passes through us, without altering our sense of surrender, allowing, and acceptance.

Pollard’s words remind me to be at peace with what is. For by accepting my present reality, despite the voice of conditioning arguing to the contrary, hoping to trick me into believing that there is something missing in the magic and beauty available in every moment, I will create the space for the balance to occur naturally. Rather than skulking about the lack of sunshine, I will enjoy the rain and be ever more pleasantly surprised when the weather shifts. By finding deep joy in my relationships, rather than shutting down, pulling away, or trying to control them, I will allow space for freedom to move into and out of them with ease.

It has been said that the infinite perfection of the universe can be found in a single grain of sand.  That in the mere existence of a tiny piece of solidity, we can see how magical, how breathtakingly awesome it is to BE.  In this world of chaos and excitement, where we are inundated with commercialism, advertising, a barrage of images and sounds and words, most of which indicate that everything is wrong with us, may I encourage you to slow down, to place a tiny piece of earth in your hand, and to ruminate on the concept of simplicity, of smallness, and to remember that you are perfect and beautiful just as you are.