I read a news article recently about a celebrity and their experience as a media target. Their reaction, as the article said, was to cry for two weeks about it, and continue to cry for years over the hardship. I feel compassion for the incredible pressure a celebrity feels being under the magnifying glass for everything they do and how stressful that can be. But when this particularly celebrity spoke about their long spiritual focus, it made me wonder if they weren’t missing a huge opportunity here as a public figure who influences millions.
Celebrities have been scrutinized since humans came up with the idea to make certain people celebrities, and that was a long time ago. We have some collective need to place people on pedestals, and then knock them off and watch what happens when they fall. They take the fall with a spectrum of reactions and responses, and it is this that I believe applies to all of us in our collective evolution.
I was struck by how this celebrity described their experience over a span of decades, and spoke only to the hardship of being unfairly scrutinized and criticized, and while claiming their spirituality, they never spoke to what was actually true for them on any level of learning or growth, in their own experience. They only articulated the level of the problem, their perceived victimization. It reminded me of the Einstein saying about solving a problem at the level of the solution, not the problem. It makes sense right? We need to bring new and solution-oriented awareness in order for real change to happen. An expansive consciousness allows for an expansive view into the realm of the solution. This celebrity had the opportunity to share their spiritual perspective since they claimed that was so important to them, for the benefit of others who also struggle. But they didn’t.
We project the content of our consciousness, and most if not all of us have some level of wounding that informs how we respond, no matter how big our hearts are, or how good our intentions are, or even how much work we’ve done. So practicing responding from an intention to bring our greatest wisdom and learning to bear on a situation allows everyone to benefit from that understanding. We can do it humbly, without preaching, in our own voice, and we will inevitably reach people and even help.
Anne Lamott says it is truly a miracle that we are born into this time. She says, “Life is a precious unfathomable gift…and, it is impossible here, on the incarnational side of things.” We have the paradox of life in every moment, all of the joys and all of the tragedy swirled together in our life experience. What makes it meaningful is how we connect with it, how we learn from it and how we share it. We are never alone in our experience. NEVER. And if we have taken the time to “do the work,” the spiritual work we say we are doing, then we owe it to the world to share that which has helped us, even if it is just in our quiet Beingness, for the benefit of others. There is always something people can be inspired by when we take the high road and share the wisdom we have gained, or even the deeper questions that have come from our journey-in-progress. And we help ourselves as we witness ourselves sharing on this level, and standing behind years of self-investigation and learning. We are all teachers, and there are just as many students.
How do we do this?
Simply being present to and aware of that which we have learned through whatever practice has brought us deeper understanding of the challenges we face. We can say, “What I’ve learned so far that serves me is…” or, “What this situation has taught me is…,” or "Having gone through this, my Intention is..." It’s a simple tweak to our style of sharing ourselves and what’s true for us. Our direct experience is usually the best we can offer, and coupling that with our best spiritual understanding is pure gold.
We are the example, we are the model. What example are we setting? What are we modeling?
Thanks for reading everyone!
Melanie
Please reach out if you are struggling and need guidance. I am here to help you with radical transformation. You can email me at melanie@innertegrity.com. Or visit my web portal at www.innertegrity.com/sessions.