I am sad about Robin Williams passing. As a result of it that I wish to share some thoughts
A woman called Faith Smith was a major influence in my life. I called her fairy godmother in that at a young age, she opened up so much to me about beauty, love, on how to heal the from the past and the false concepts of our religious upbringing.
A person I knew wrote to Faith saying that she wanted to take her life . She received back from Faith a very short note saying “ Honey whatever it is you are running from, drop it now for you sure take it with you “ Those words shown to me on that card have been etched in my mind since.
Yesterday while reading an article by Peter Coyote a Zen Buddhist Priest who knew Robin Williams compared Robin’s great talent as a biceps .He wrote, “Normally when you are gifted with a huge talent of some kind, it’s like having a magnificent bicep. People will say, “Wow, that’s fantastic” and they tell you, truthfully, that it can change your life, take you to unimaginable realms. It can and often does. The Zen perspective is a little different. We might say, “Well, that’s a great bicep, you don’t have to do anything to it. Let’s work at bringing the rest of your body up to that level.”
So I ask how do you deal with bigness and potential, when other aspects can try to choke it kill it? How do you deal with dark times in life without leaving this world or go into addictive coping strategies, such as working too hard, over eating or drug addictions..The answers are not simple as we are all complex humans. However, I have decided to share what I have used as tools in my work and have practiced in my life
This a Part of you
Whatever is happening with dark and negative thoughts and feeling is only part of you. It is not all of you. In fact you could practice looking at yourself caught in a negative thought pattern. Stand above or behind yourself and observe you as
In the Irish language we say “Ta uaigneas orm” it literally means loneliness is upon me when in the English language we would say “I am lonely.” The Irish language gives more feeling of detachment
A Different Approach
Find a different way to deal with a mood that grips. Such as, instead of taking to bed or isolating, take a walk, go out to nature, get near children or animals. Recently I was very scared about a conversation that I needed to have and instead of giving it a lot of energy in my mind in a way I can , I decided not to go into freeze mode an complete a writing task that I had committed too . The fear dissolved as I stayed with my work and the conversation took care of itself at another time and in fact easier way. So move beyond the habitual pattern that pulls you deeper in a quagmire of despair.
Love the Negativity.
Welcome it ! Treat it like a child that has fallen off the bicycle and cut their knees. Give it your compassion. Speak to t as if you are a parent. Ask what do they need from you today. Imagine the frightened, dark place sitting on your lap and you are advising it, loving it, not judging it. A good tool with this is to journal it onto page or pages. Write out the mood in the form of a dialogue with a loving part of you. These loving acts can bring much insight and wisdom to the situation.
Other factors that will support scary times are to pay attention to eating grounding calming and nourishing foods. We can discuss this in another time
Robin Williams in his life and movies showed me how out to the edges I can go, how big and bold I can allow myself to be. Our society is appearing to be harder and harder to live, with war and news of conflict almost every day. Yet the work is still to find that still no judmental place inside, to love ,peace and release gentleness first towards one self and then to each other
May his passing help us to stay more aware, have more compassion, take time to be and manage our lives and to stay connected this precious moment. Blessed be Robin and thank you shared with us in fun , insight and out there on the edge ideas.