“I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness – it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.” —Brené Brown
“Only a person who has passed through the gate of humility can ascend to the heights of the spirit.” —Rudolf Steiner
My Vietnam vet buddy turned spiritual guru, Artie Vipperla, recently taught me a simple exercise that has triggered several breakthroughs in my practice. It’s called the “Turtle and Peacock.” Sounds like a children’s story, doesn’t it? Well, in many ways, that’s appropriate because it gets us back in touch with our inner and innocent child who longs for and expresses unbounded joy.
My grandkids remind me daily of what freedom, love, joy, and pleasure look like.
They dance with reckless abandon, they love with whole hearts, they laugh with ecstatic joy. Their eyes twinkle brightly, their bodies move freely, their hearts glow brightly—they are radiant beings strutting their stuff like a peacock in full display.
When life is going well, l should say.
On the other hand, when life throws them a curve, they have been known to shrivel into a ball, retreat into their shells, close down their energy, and hide the fullness of their potential like a threatened turtle.
On our trip to adulthood, most of us have encountered experiences that have caused us to harden the protective shell that keeps us safe and to lose many of the bright colored feathers that enhanced our plumage.
What happened to those magnificent trains that marked us as distinguished and distinctive?
In the turtle and peacock exercise, the first step is to imagine yourself as a turtle—physically protected and emotionally closed. Try it. Put your head and shoulders down and forward and feel yourself shutting down. The second step is to imagine yourself as a peacock—physically vulnerable and emotionally open. Try it. Fling your arms and head back and feel your heart and soul opening up.
When you were being the turtle, you probably felt trapped, bounded, contained, numb, shriveled and fearful. And maybe safe for a moment. When you were expressing yourself as a peacock, you probably felt boundless, free, beautiful, and joyful. And maybe vulnerable and exposed for a moment.
When I incorporated a modified version of these moves into my meditation, as I gently did my figure 8’s in conjunction with my breathing, it triggered the realization that, in the turtle position, I feel humility; and, in the peacock position, I feel gratitude. As I reflect on these emotional/spiritual states, I am able to apply the revelations to each of my energy centers as I move up and down my chakras. Yeah, I know, this is getting a little weird. I’m just being honest about the experience. What this experience produced was the following poem:
I’m grateful to be able to turn to a nameless and formless source and force that inspires me to look beyond myself; and I’m humbled by my insignificance in the light of this Great Spirit.
I’m grateful for the times when I am able to tune into the experience of others; and I’m humbled by my lack of understanding of what lies deep within the souls of my fellow humans.
I’m grateful for the rare occasions I can read what’s really going on with someone I love; and I’m humbled when my readings fall so far short of fullness.
I’m grateful for the abundant love and caring I give and receive from friends and family; and I’m humbled by my callousness, numbness, and insensitivity at times.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to grow physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually every day; and I’m humbled by the conditions so many face that makes just surviving the day an overwhelming task.
I’m grateful to see my grandkids potential flower and bloom in their beautifully unique ways; and I’m humbled by the unrealized potential of millions of less privileged children in the world.
I’m grateful for the ability to reach out to so many people with by blog and my books; and I’m humbled by the small quantity and narrow demographics of the people I touch.
I’m grateful for being able to greet each day filled with possibility; and I’m humbled by the billion people who greet each day not knowing if they will have enough food to get through another day.
I’m grateful for the beauty of joining with loved ones in warm, intimate embrace; and I’m humbled by the cold rejections that so many people experience every day.
I’m grateful for my parents who raised me with love and support and generously shared their decency and dollars with me; and I’m humbled by the fact that so many children grow up in broken, abusive, poor, and dysfunctional homes.
I’m grateful that I have access to almost all the information in the world and that I am able to speak my mind freely and without fear; and I’m humbled by the billions of people who live in oppressive conditions who are tortured and killed for expressing their opinion.
I’m grateful that I am able to bask and glow in the light of loving friends and family; and I’m humbled by how dim so many lights and lives are.
I’m assuming that most of the people who read this blog have much to be grateful for and much to be humbled by.
And, if your experience is similar to mine, you probably see far less gratitude for what we have been given and far too little humility for the limits of our power to change the world.
And, probably like me, it disturbs you when you see privileged people wanting even more for themselves and taking too much credit for what they already have.
For me, however, this post is really about raising questions:
- Are we as grateful as we could be for the gifts we have been given?
- Do we have the humility to recognize that our gifts are not only limited but also were largely shaped by factors other than by our own initiative?
- How well do we notice when, where, and how we are more like a turtle than a peacock? More closed than open? More trapped then free? More bounded than boundless?
- How open are we to casting off our shells and spreading our feathers? Making ourselves vulnerable?
- How deeply do we understand what causes us to shrink, shrivel, numb, deaden, hide, protect, and defend ourselves?
- What can we do to shift into a more open, boundless, joyful, loving attitude toward life?
- What can we do to share our gifts more generously?
In a recent NYT article, David Brooks declared himself as an American Nationalist. He was sharing the gratitude he had for living in America. While I admire most of Brook’s writings and insights, I disagree with this declaration. It is too freighted with supremacy and tribalism. I believe we all need to make the shift to seeing ourselves as global citizens. We are all in this together.
What gives me perspective is that we humans have only occupied this earth for about 200,000 years of its 4,000,000,000 years of existence, i.e. humans have been only part of life on earth for .0005 of its history, at least in a physical sense.
We have to be humbled by the facts that we are the new species on the block and that we haven’t done much to preserve and protect our lonely, lovely planet.
While I feel enormously grateful to have been un-probabilistically born on this tiny planet in the universe, I am humbled by the very small fraction of time humans have had the privilege to pursue their possibilities here. I understand how and why tribes have formed, but in the long and large scheme of things, our tribal and national identities make no sense. Americans are far too prone to strut like a peacock in negative ways, i.e. with exclusive pride instead of open hearts and minds.
For me, the best way to navigate the difficulties we are facing at home and abroad is to make the effort to be grateful for whatever we have and to have the humility to know we don’t have all the answers.
With gratitude and humility, we may be able to reconnect with our radiant child within and spread some light and love in the world.
In a world in which hate and fear are fueled and freed, I am grateful to have a safe harbor where I can love and be loved by the most important people in my life. I am also humbled by the reality that we can’t predict what tomorrow may bring—a constant reminder to make the most of every moment we have.
In closing, I want to be clear that working with Artie informed and inspired this post. If you are interested in casting off your protective shell and finding a path to a more joy in your life, check out energysway.com.
There may be no promises for tomorrow, but we can live in gratitude for the moments we have now.
May it be so.
Well done Ricky-thanks as always