Bring Your Whole Self to the Experience

A few weeks ago I listened to another dharma talk by Jack Kornfield who was joined that day by Frank Ostaseski, an author of an incredible book “The Five Invitations” I am hoping to read this year (thank you for your recommendation Steve 🙏)…a book about life and death and what death can teach us about living fully. One of the invitations he mentioned in the talk was “Bring your whole Self to the experience”. It is something that has resonated with me quite deeply…maybe because it is something I would love to be able to do in each moment but at times it feels safer to hide my vulnerability…and not to embrace it and see the beauty of it.

We often hide our weaknesses in front of other people for different reasons…being scared of being judged, being scared of not being worthy of love…or disappointing someone who loves us for not being who they may think we are. But it is often when we are sincere and open and when we share our whole Self with others that makes us so much more beautiful. If we can cherish our weaknesses, they can become beautiful gifts and create paths for incredible connections with the world around us. I hope this year will be full of being comfortable in our own skin and just loving ourselves for who we are…embracing our weirdness and knowing that we are perfect and whole…and that we bring sunshine into this world as we are 🌱💜