Porous Openings

I usually welcome Openings, but now?! Life is so busy and hectic. How will I find time and space to address this Opening?

OUT IN THE WORLD

Often in this blog we look at Openings in isolation. We look at how they show up, their nature, our choice whether to enter and if we do enter, how we navigate them. We don’t always take into consideration what else is going on in our lives at the time an Opening appears. In this post, we will. Life doesn’t stop when an Opening appears. We must address the Opening as life speeds on around us.

We have our lives. We live in a bigger world where we work, play, love and exist in community. We tend to our emotions, mind, body and spirit, as the world spins around us. When an Opening appears, it does so within our bigger world. We must slow down to see it. Yes, sometimes it loudly makes its presence known, but we still have to give it our attention. Openings can stop the flow of our lives in both small and large ways, depending on their nature.

So, what is a porous Opening for our purposes in this blog post? It is an Opening we experience with our lives buzzing around us. It is porous because life can intrude on our handling of the Opening and the Opening can intrude on our lives. We are in no way within a quiet, safe cocoon protecting us from the world as we consider the Opening. Life and the opening mesh together and can get messy.

NAVIGATING A POROUS OPENING

How do we do it? By its nature, a porous Opening takes skill to navigate. Several factors are involved. Our lives are busy already and an Opening appears. We may be going at so fast a pace that it is difficult to slow down. We have to juggle other aspects and responsibilities of our lives at the same time that we consider the new Opening. Since our attention is divided, focus is a crucial part of navigating a porous Opening.

By their nature, porous Openings are impacted by outside elements. They are fluid in their energy. A porous Opening may be one in which a new job offer shows up, but our current job has demands and deadlines that we must focus on and complete. Or a family member needs our time and our schedule is ridiculously busy. Addressing the porous Opening requires choices and decisions beyond that of whether to enter it or not.

The challenge, but also the high value of the Opening, is making our choice and entering the Opening amid other pressures. In the process we strengthen, focus, enhance resilience and set our priorities. That may be part of the purpose of the Opening, as well as what else it offers. Also, porous Openings can be so influenced by outside factors that they may be hard to see clearly or their very nature may shift.

BALANCING ACT

So often, the effectiveness and fulfillment of our lives comes down to balance. Balance, as we know, is dynamic as opposed to static. Porous Openings can upset the balance of our lives as they ask for our attention. We must readjust to address them. Even if we think there is no time or space to do so, they are there. Sure, we can ignore them, but then we are ignoring something that can significantly move our lives forward.

If we choose to enter a porous Opening, the balancing act continues. The Opening may bring new responsibilities and activities for us. What happens to the ones we already had?  More choices, sometimes difficult ones, are called for. We also may go through a period of adjustment and see the need to build our skills or better manage our emotions. Everything has to fit, where we thought we had no room. And the world keeps spinning around us.

Balancing our lives is always a good idea. It is a fulcrum of a fulfilling life (and our sanity!). Let’s take an inventory of the level of balance in our lives now. How are we tending to each of our mental, emotional, physical and spiritual lives? Are they where they need to be and in the balance we want them to be in? Do we feel a positive sense of control in our lives? Are we happy?