Becoming
Leaning Into A Transformation
“That upon which we focus, focuses us.”
Ronald Chapman
*****
Beauty becomes us. As does wonder. So too does reverence.
Alternatively, if we are intent on finding grievance, injury and ugliness,
it will come to us in abundance.
*****
Should we be surprised that we become that in which we immerse ourselves? After all, it makes obvious and logical sense. Every interaction we experience is reflected in the wiring of our brains and throughout our neural systems. Some have said that if you want to make a prediction of how someone’s future will appear, look at the culture, circumstances and dynamics in which they live.
Of course, that is not exclusively, absolutely true, but evidence indicates it is a fairly reliable indicator. Kids who grow up in families that emphasize reading and learning are much more likely to become educated. Individuals who spend their formative years in ranching communities are much more likely to find their way to livelihoods on the land. Even trauma can be transferred through family and community systems, which goes a long way to explaining how violence and other depredations can find their way into succeeding generations.
To repeat, these are not necessarily, absolutely true for every individual, but they tend to hold up reasonably well when we look at patterns.
We are likely to become that in which we are immersed.
When I look to my own life for evidence, it is quite strong. Learning, hard work, and diligence are clearly a family legacy, ingrained in me by my people. They served me well in the largest transition in my life, finding sobriety after train-wrecking my life through alcoholism more than thirty-five years in the past. Yet what was added to my core being comes courtesy of the recovery, therapeutic and spiritual communities in which I have now spent decades: gratitude, inner growth, service and practice. All these are the byproduct not just of effort, but the people, settings and communities in which I was necessarily immersed.
If we want to imagine our future, all we need do is look at our present.
I could not be more grateful to those who pointed and supported me to exploring how we see, and how we understand others, the world, and the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Those who taught me and led me into spiritual practice, the arts, gardens, and meditation allowed me to be remade in most profound ways.
But are we to become pollyannas? Of course not.
Seeing beauty is best perfected by engaging the brokenness that co-exists with it. Understanding our powerlessness is furthered through our efforts to take action. Learning to love others is found by dealing with all the ways that we are not loving. These are the ways and means of the design of life, growth and the spiritual realm.
We are likely to become that with which we engage.
Seeing True in Action™
We can gain great value from teachers and mentors who remind us over and over again of virtues of all kinds. The first step would be to look at that in which we currently immerse ourselves. Then to steer ever so slowly toward that which will remake us. Over and over and over again.
“Yes To Life, In Spite of Everything”
Note: For more on this idea of what and how we become, click here to watch a Speaking True video.