Inner and Outer

The theme for today is Inner and Outer

There's a difference between individualism,
the emphasis on self as separate and in opposition to or competition with others,
and individuality,
the knowledge that I am a unique way of being connected and in relationship with all that is.

Note, I said "I AM a unique way of being connected", not "I HAVE .."

We are human beings, and human "becomings".
I am not a fixed thing, but a changing relationship
with a sense of being, and a sense of becoming,
a changing balance between separation and union.

The word "belonging" captures both separation and union
and partakes of both.

That balance "plays out" in a place that is a mixture of both "me" and "not me".

This is a basic insight of the group that sponsored this meeting,
called Play as Being,
the idea to cultivate and practice this awareness
of a "place" where the sense of self may be held lightly
and responsively, relationally,
to what life offers.

"I" takes form in this playful and fluid "between" place.

We all have both inner and outer knowledge, strengths, and abilities.

Then the idea of what is inner and what is outer is not really so clear as it might seem.

If I have a love of nature
and the ability to "take refuge" there,
is that inner or outer?

Knowing "self" would include an awareness of this dynamic changing inner and outer mixture.

What are some of your inner and outer "resources"?
What are your "ways of belonging"?

The story of a person is the story of their unique ways of belonging.

May the stories be told,
and held,
caringly and lightly.