Be. Being. Becoming.

Photo by Ansgar Scheffold at Unsplash

For some time now, I’ve had this deep, penetrating feeling that there has always been much more to life than a paycheck, job and accumulation of things. This has no doubt been influenced by my ongoing “Loft Project.” It seems really odd to me that so many people—myself included before extracting myself from much of that experience— were rushing around in a craziness to attain this or that, to launch this project or another, or to get this or that thing done; and yet they were not really happy at the same time asserting they were. I’m not sure happy is the best word, perhaps “contentment” is a better description of what we might all be striving for. And what is that? It stands to reason that when we’ve slowed down to a pace that is comfortable for us, we enjoy what we are doing and the people around us for their own sake. We smile and sigh with gratitude in our hearts.

Understand that I have not achieved mastery in this arena. I’m not content 24/7, but I sure would like to be. I know what it feels like in my body. When I have reached a state of contentment, everything seems to be okay and nothing is bristling in my mind or needs fixing. I step into hallowed moments one at a time.

A few days ago, in between rain showers while returning from a morning walk to the post office I paused to take a closer look at a lilac tree with branches overhanging the road. As I soaked in the sweet scent of the purple flowers still wet from the shower fifteen minutes earlier, ahead of me in a clearing I noticed several deer, the lead deer paused and with a whitetail wag a sign of safe crossing, the others followed dashing across the road. Without a camera I had to capture the moment with a feeling and it seemed closest to contentment and serenity; a scene suitable for any naturalist magazine.

Acknowledging gratitude for breathing and being alive at just that moment and able to see the beauty of nature both in plants and wild creatures was intensely meaningful. There I was at just the right time to partake of nature unfolding in all its grandeur and grace. And I wasn’t just observing I was participating in the unfolding of the cosmos as well. It was indeed, a state of prayer.

Awed by that single moment my entire day was perfect. All I had to do was bear witness and be still. It makes me wonder if we’re not meant to live that way all the time, or at least more often than we do. Journeying through a paradise of having what we need for the moment whether that be a scene of nature, food, shelter, employment—it’s ours for the gift it is.

I can’t say for sure what contentment might feel like for you. Learning to be content contains many opportunities for us to carry our flawless selves into our inner sanctum to be nourished and back out again and again. That is where we train ourselves to know those feelings of pure joy, wonder, and awe. Besides being gentle graces that are poured out upon us they are states of power, divine power. With practice we develop an awareness of the place in the body where we are most grounded, most secure in our beingness and where we can remain unruffled by outside forces. We can harness the ability to function from an inner place of wholeness becoming totally aware of our surroundings.

Let me attempt to offer what contentment is like for me. If I were to be really aware of eating a scoop of vanilla bean Hagen Daz ice cream, I would savor every spoonful, feel the creamy texture and revel in the coldness on my tongue and be enamored by those tiny specks of vanilla beans, as well as the beauty of the crystal glass from which I’m scooping each spoonful. It’s a full sensual, textual, present awareness that brings life to the experience. Or contentment might be like the gentle breeze that sweeps across your skin on a sweltering summer day. You cherish the feeling for that moment of unsolicited comfort that comes out of nowhere. In truth, neither one of these examples gets to the essence or the root of contentment which I believe is a kind of surrender. You can’t control it, but it is there for you when you are aware of it.

Contentment is being in the body at a level in which you are drawing and yet are also drawn in at a frequency that is far above your regular level of functioning. It could be as Richard Rohr says:

Once we know that the entire physical world around us, all of creation is both the hiding place and the revelation of God, this world becomes home, safe, enchanted, offering grace to any who look deeply.

To know contentment we must be in our bodies as beings of light, becoming all we are—a body grounded in truth. If that sounds like a life-time venture it probably is and no doubt it takes lots and lots of practice to trust the information you receive in the inner sanctum, but I dare say—from my experience—it’s worth it.

Rejoice in your becoming!