We’ve now passed through two full years of the pandemic with no certain end in sight. We’re also experiencing a continuous uptick in unstable weather patterns brought on by climate change and an ever-increasing sense of political peril. Uncertainty and a sense of groundlessness remain a significant part of this landscape for many of us. Personally I’m doing my best to travel these unknowns without an accurate map. Some days its easier than others.
Embracing “don’t know mind” has always been an important practice for me, the willingness to hold in open awareness what I can’t know or understand. This practice allows me to access my heart rather than just staying in my head and trying to figure out the challenges. It also helps me to let go of what I can’t control and find a calm spot in the middle of the storm.
Yet, as Covid and climate change continue to upend our lives, you may feel called to step into not knowing again and again, even to the point of exhaustion. Resistance may be equally exhausting. What to do?
First, it’s ok to feel uncomfortable or fatigued with not knowing right now, it’s a completely appropriate and even compassionate response to the ever-shifting ground beneath your feet. This unknown path may feel scary at times and patience and self-compassion are essential for mental stability as you travel this terrain.
My practice has taught me that if I don’t allow for these endless variations in the landscape, my experience hardens into an outdated map that doesn’t help me navigate. Getting familiar with this seemingly empty ground is how I keep walking. When I connect with what is truly here, I know in my heart I’ve never really been anywhere else. The great heart/mind of awareness holds me in a reliable and spacious ground that I can trust. This is home.