The Nature of Exposure

My mind is at it
My heart is in it
My spirit is throughout it

What is it? It is right now; it is right this moment. The product of this moment is directly dependent on us. Not yesterday, not tomorrow, right now. Not the pains and the scars of yesterday, or the dreams and fears of tomorrow.

It's easy to expose ourselves physically, we do that by getting out of bed. To expose ourselves mentally, emotionally and spiritually is something no one eagerly signs up to do. We mistake the raw nature of exposure with pain.

Look beyond the feeling of this moment, not just for yourself but for others as well. It is through both ourselves and others that can broaden the power and potency of transformation.

Without exposure, we cannot help ourselves. With exposure, we can free ourselves of the weight that holds back our transformative potential.

Experiencing Emotional Pain

• All feelings are already within us; they are part of the experience of us.
• All of our thoughts and actions generate responses and reactions, from us as well as our environment and others.
• All of our responses and reactions are already within us. These perpetuate the cycle of cause and effect, never having a beginning or an end.

We really do experience emotional pain. Instead of experiencing it, we often avoid it instead. And, we should not just experience emotional pain, we should explore it. It’s a vital source of vivid information about our life, our world and our role in it. All of our emotions are important tools to understanding and navigating our life.

We’ve trained our mind to avoid experiencing life in a present, open way. Our emotions are a guide to our internal responses and reactions. When emotions are too intense, the mind tries to compartmentalize the emotions through avoidance and attachment: avoiding the more intense, darker emotions, attaching to the easier, lighter emotions. The mental attachment to the easier, lighter emotions blocks out the intense, darker ones. This process moves us out of being present and aware.

Some people like to see the best in others. Others don’t see others as the human beings that they are. Both of these strategies are examples of avoidance and attachment. Both strategies block presence and awareness. Without presence and awareness, we cannot see, let alone navigate this life.

Awakening in the Darkness

Slowly, I opened my eyes. Each time they flutter open, the eyes sting from the blinding lights of the world outside of this body and this mind.

We must do this slowly, with care, with awareness, with patience. We are awakening in the darkness that is our ignorance.

The light of the world is bright. The light of the world can break through the darkness of our ignorance.

The light of the world is our mind shining back at us. It is only through our mind that we can become aware of the world. It is only through our mind that we step back into it.