Last time, I shared something I learned while studying Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism):
Receiving is a form of giving.
Today, I'm sharing another lesson from Kabbalah that you may have seen last month in my other newsletter (
The Village Dispatch):
Discomfort is light—awareness—trying to be revealed.
Here's why I'm sharing this:
Tiny Village Mail is starting to feel more like a chore than joy to write and it's uncomfortable to admit that.
But I remind myself:
Discomfort is light—awareness—trying to be revealed.
I've said from the start that village making is about spreading health and well-being.
Efforting is tiring and runs counter to that.
And I can avoid getting tired because I'm free to make adjustments.
Or I can avoid getting more tired, I should say:
I feel exhausted from years of round-the-clock caregiving.
Change starts with awareness. I became acutely aware of our country's care needs as a caregiver for my parents, and gave myself the work of promoting care communities in the hopes of sparing people burdens similar to (or worse than) mine.
At first, the work was working for me.
Now, not so much. And while it doesn't feel good to admit that, …
Discomfort is light—awareness—trying to be revealed.
And only new awareness can produce better outcomes.
Here's an awareness my discomfort revealed:
The idea for Tiny Village Project is good, the execution is not.
But rather than do what we tend to do when something's not working—scramble to figure out a fix—I'm foregoing more efforting for more allowing.
In other words, I'm getting out of my head and allowing my inner wisdom guide me forward. I'd love to always live this way, but my American conditioning to be productive kicks in more than I'd like even though I'd rather be prosperous, i.e., FULLY ALIVE.
The beauty of feeling tired is that I don't have the energy to do anything but allow.
I already have some thoughts about changes I might make, like writing tips one a month, or hitting pause so that I can play with different formats.
I'll keep you informed, but you may not get Tiny Village Mail again 'til April.
In closing, I have a question:
Where could you get better outcomes with less efforting and more allowing?
