Openings Within

Sure, there can be Openings within. That makes sense. How do I recognize them?

Our Outer World

The outer world surrounds us. It is people, our environment, animals, nature, cities, stars, planets – all kinds of things. Our outer world has mirrors – reflections of ourselves through our interactions – that tell us things about who we are. It also has stimulation that we respond to. We tend to our outer world constantly. It is physical and demands our attention.

Our outer world also works hard to influence us through the power of community. This power can be benevolent – helping us be our best selves – or coercive – asking us to conform to an ideal that may not be our own. The outer world is in constant motion asking us to keep up. In recent times, the speed of our world has increased exponentially.

To thrive in our outer world balance is a necessity. Balance among the many aspects and demands of our lives. Balance among our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual worlds. And each of these worlds must be tended to. Openings often reveal themselves in our outer world through opportunities presented to us, experiences we have, calls to adventure we receive and things that we pursue.

Our Inner World

Our inner world is ours alone.There is no requirement that we reveal it. Some cultivate their inner world. For some, it is a landscape that they are unfamiliar with. Each inner world is unique. The outer world will sometimes discourage inner searching, asking us to accept a belief system, pay more attention to our outer world or communicating that our inner world can be dangerous.

Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living. This quote suggests that a life without self-reflection and critical thinking lacks meaning and value. It emphasizes the importance of questioning one’s beliefs and understanding one’s purpose in life. Our inner world asks for examination. It is often a solitary pursuit without a roadmap and can be challenging.

Our inner world is where we find our authentic selves. We fall into situations where our inner values and sentiments do not align with our outer world. Reconciling the two can be difficult but helps us be our best selves. Misalignment of our inner and outer worlds can be damaging. To navigate this, we must have compassion for ourselves and a desire to know our inner world well.