This article was written by one of our senior students, Chaya Silberstein, for QuantumTouch.com after spending some time with our kids at summer camp. It’s a great article about grounding and being your highest self during difficult times.
I was hanging out with some children today, and one of them, a boy, age 8, had made ninja stars out of origami. We were taking turns tossing our stars through openings in the branches of a tree, and if it landed on the other side, the thrower would get a point. The wind was slightly against us, and this made it more challenging but also more fun. We had to really pay attention to the ebb and flow of the wind and try find the right curve and moment to throw.
At one point the boy said, “I am the wind” and took his turn. The ninja star did not make it through, but inspiration was awakened.
Next, when it was my turn, I said, “I am the tree,” and threw. Sure enough, the star hit the tree without going through the target and fell to the ground.
We both laughed and the boy said, “See, you are the tree!”
Shifting perspectives and grounding
I then had an idea. I decided to gaze past the target and focus on a tree much further away as I took aim. Sure enough, it worked and I began to land all my throws, no matter where the wind was blowing!
This made me think of life in general and a great way to approach it, especially when there’s a lot of drama going on around us. Drama is kind of like the wind. Maybe you can predict it and chart a map, but it can also change directions at any moment or act unruly even while keeping to its course. Try to resist it, you’re out of luck; get caught up in it, it’ll carry you along but it may not be where you want to go. So, instead, a higher, grounding perspective is necessary.
Looking past your goal, eliminates some of the pressure of making it. Looking past the drama allows you to stay removed from it. It may still be happening, but you’re not caught up in it. It’s not that you’re ignoring it, you’re simply keeping your attention elsewhere.
Direct your attention
In current times, when daily world events seem to be unpredictable, you can apply these same grounding principles within yourself. Get grounded. Breathe. Focus on the sensations within yourself. Acknowledge the mind for all the wonderful stories it tells, but when it seems to be pulling you in a direction that may not be your own, don’t resist it, but also allow your attention to gently drift to a more open space. Ground yourself within you—within the infinite. See the tree past the target and allow its leaves to guide you; the sparkle in the sunlight, the slight rustling sound.
It’s not that you then become insensitive to other people’s despair and suffering, but you can then react from a much calmer place. Rather than getting caught in the limited space, you can become the open space and the benefit of this is so much more enjoyable!
From this place you can act; whether it’s offering a healing circle, or doing a meditation for world peace, or cooking a nice meal, or joining in humanitarian efforts, you can show up as yourself—rooted in a higher perspective.
By Chaya Silberstein
Sylvia Dana
I love this post. It is easy to be shortsighted but this experience brings hope!