Patricia Pearce

Helping You Be the Change

Listen to the Birds, and They Will Tell You

by

May you have time this season to listen to the birds.

“Listen to the animals and they will teach you
the birds of the air and they will tell you…”

— from The Book of Job

 

At five o’clock in the morning, the Robins sit on the peak of the neighbor’s house facing the east, singing their morning song. Sometimes each house has a Robin heralding the dawn.  Sometimes it is only one bird for the whole cul-de-sac. At times the House Finches take the place of, or join the Robins.  For the past three decades I have been out running or walking early in the morning, often before the sun rises.  I had never noticed the consistency of the placement of birds on the peaks of rooftops of houses until recently.  It seems that their singing facing the direction of East is particular to the spring and early summer months.Continue Reading

Virtual Is Its Own Reward

by

Entering that hushed place

Now in my 75th year, I finally got myself into spiritual direction.  Or just as likely, it’s gotten itself into me.  Even that modest move required overcoming of a long-standing preference to manage my spiritual journey without needing outside assistance.  Then one of the first problems to arise was the recurrence of a long-standing difficulty with meditation, namely that I couldn’t sustain the silent centering and breathing for more than 2 or 3 minutes before the brain teased and pestered me back into thoughts and schedules.  After a week or two of this roadblock, I began to recall that when I’ve shared a silence with others—on retreat or in a small group—I could comfortably deepen into the silence for longer stretches of time without giving in to the distractions.  Not having such a group at hand, I hit on a practice that’s helping the meditation problem but bringing other benefits as well.  I’ve been calling that practice my “Virtual Meditation  Group.”Continue Reading

Bearing Witness

by

Together hopefully we will share the light of love.

When Patricia asked me if I’d be willing to write a guest blog, I was honored and also a bit daunted. I didn’t quite know where to start, or how to follow her beautifully laid path. She suggested that I might write about my work as spiritual practice, and possibly share an excerpt from my newly written book Find the Medicine: How Theater of Witness Reveals Stories of Suffering, Transformation and Peace. So I offer the Prelude of the book and some subsequent thoughts:

I am crouching in the wings of the theater watching the performance of Children of Cambodia/Children of War. From the side angle I see Hong Peach’s graceful silhouette balance as she perches on her right leg and her hands glide through the air in slow motion. Her fingers touch and trace invisible lines in the soft blue light. Her beauty is pure and lingers like perfume. Then with a boisterous shout, the Cambodian teen boys bound through the space, cajoling each other as they flip and jump over higher and higher ropes before collapsing into a pile of limbs on the floor, laughing before one turns serious:Continue Reading

WYNT: Station of Possibilities

by

What’s your default setting?

Recently I woke up with negative thoughts on my mind. It was as if a radio in my brain had tuned into a station of negativity. I knew it wasn’t how I wanted to start my day, so I asked myself—if my mind were a radio, what station would I want it tuned to?

I decided I wanted to tune my mind to WYNT-–“Why Not?” I imagined an upbeat d.j. announcing, “Good morning! You’re tuned to WYNT—the Radio Station of Possibilities!”

I discovered it’s a really great station. Whenever a new possibility floats through my mind, the upbeat announcer proclaims, “Why not?!” Tuned into WYNT I feel energized, enthused.

It’s so much nicer than KNNT—the alternative station where nothing is possible. Tuned into KNNT, life seems like one big futile effort.  The KNNT announcer is a real downer. He goes on and on about how the future is doomed, life is pointless. He instantly shoots down any new idea.

As unpleasant as KNNT is though, I discovered it’s useful in its own bizarre way. It gives me one more chance to practice mindfulness and self-compassion.

It’s really no different than meditation. By noticing what energy I’m tuning into, I’m able to exercise my power not to buy into the negative thoughts that want to take root in my mind. I can patiently and compassionately bring my mind back to the here and now where peace is found.

It’s definitely a practice, and some days I’m better at it than others. But I’m committed to stick with it because I think it’s one of the most important things I can learn in life.

Still, if I had my choice (and actually I do) I’d really prefer to hang out listening to WYNT. It’s just so much more fun.  The horizon becomes wide-open. Life feels like an exciting adventure.

It’s the playfulness of WYNT I like the best.  Why Not invites me into the sand box of possibilities where I feel like a kid again—open, adaptable, willing to take risks and explore new things. I get to hang out in beginner’s mind where the arteries of my imagination haven’t been hardened by cynicism or certainty.

When I’m tuned into WYNT I don’t know what the future holds, and that feels exciting rather than anxiety-provoking. The destination isn’t the point anyway.  The point is about being alive and open to the moment itself.

How about you?  Which station is your default?  If you don’t care too much for it, you might want to start playing with the dial. I mean, it’s your radio, so why not?

Thinker in a Cage

by

Do you ever feel trapped in thought?

This summer they were renovating the grounds of the Rodin Museum here in Philadelphia where the largest collection of Rodin sculptures outside Paris reside. One of the casts of Rodin’s renowned statue The Thinker sits in the courtyard entrance to the museum. In order to protect it during the renovations, they enclosed the sculpture in a mesh cage.

It seemed apropos.

Most of us spend our days so caught up in our thoughts that we are oblivious to the world around us. Cut off from the raw experience of life, we spend our days trapped inside the prison of our own minds.Continue Reading

The Most Perfect Moment

by

Will you accept that this the most perfect moment of your life?

Several years ago as I was getting ready for bed a thought dropped into my mind: “This is the most perfect moment of my life.”

The idea was absurd.

I mean, I’ve had plenty of moments that might be in the running for the most perfect of my life. The time I got to watch a meteor shower streaking hundreds of trails of light across the night sky. The first time I went snorkeling in the Carribbean and saw the spectacular world of coral and tropical fish. The times camping out in the Rockies under the canopy of the Milky Way. The bright September day of horseback riding in the Tetons.

Not to mention all the times I’ve laughed with a friend over a cup of coffee, or witnessed a rainbow paint itself across stormy clouds, or wept while I listened to the last movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

I could go on with my litany of perfect moments, but I think you get the idea. Brushing my teeth would never have made the list.

But I suspect that was precisely the point. I wasn’t standing on a mountain peak looking out over a stunning vista. I wasn’t sitting in a concert hall listening to a breathtaking orchestral work. I wasn’t celebrating around a dinner table with good friends.

I was doing something completely mundane that I do every single day of my life.

The unbidden realization made me aware of how much I evaluate my experiences according to some scale in my mind about what constitutes perfection. Anything that doesn’t exhibit some extraordinary quality is not worthy of notice, and certainly not reverence.

But there it was, this spontaneous teaching that has stayed with me ever since: This is the most perfect moment of my life.

Since then, from time to time I repeat the phrase to myself. It almost always shifts my awareness. It opens my eyes to the absolutely amazing miracle of any moment, no matter how mundane it may seem.

You just might try this teaching yourself and see what happens. While doing some mundane act say to yourself, “This is the most perfect moment of my life.” Repeat it until its truth finally begins to break through.

Feeding the Soul In No Time

by

 

It takes no more time to experience life than not to experience it.

So often we don’t attend to our souls because think we don’t have the time. But here’s the thing: the soul doesn’t need time so much as it needs No Time.

You have undoubtedly experienced No Time. It’s where you are when you are so completely, mindfully present that time itself drops away. It’s not the same as losing yourself in an engrossing activity that causes you to lose track of time. Stepping through the portal into No Time requires awareness, and when it happens you find yourself in the presence of something eternal which exists beyond the confines of your small self. Continue Reading

Beyond Story

by

Are your stories maps or traps?
Are your stories maps or traps?

If you’re like me, you loved stories when you were a child. I still love them. I love entering into an imaginative world where characters come to life. I love wondering how the story will unfold and where will the characters be by the end. How will they have changed? How will their problems have resolved themselves, or gotten worse?

Stories can be helpful. They can serve as maps that guide us through confusion, reassuring us that others have struggled with the same things we do. Continue Reading