#536 Between Destructive Activity & Passivity - Nurturing Engagement

     Don't we often assume that to get anything accomplished we must bulldoze our way through obstacles, be they things or people? We have the idea that force and "collateral damage" are inevitable and necessary components of getting the job done, of reaching goals. So we assume it's a choice between destructive action - OR - useless passivity through which nothing is achieved.
     Between these two unhelpful extremes - both of which are very hard on everyone involved - is the more reasonable middle way. Neither violent action nor inactivity, but intelligent nurturing provides all the necessary ingredients for beneficial things to happen. A gardening analogy is useful: neither impatiently ripping out the carrots before they're ripe, nor ignoring them helps. What helps is intelligent nurturing - ensuring the carrots receive all the light, water & fertilizer they require.
     Mindfulness meditation trains us for such nurturing engagement - appropriate, helpful action - in our moment-to-moment life.

Quang Tran, National Geographic   http://photography.nationalgeographic.com

#455 Learning to Open Up to & Depend on Others

     "In Roger Ebert’s review of Sean Penn’s poignant movie of Into the Wild, Ebert wrote, 'This is a reflective, regretful, serious film about a young man swept away by his uncompromising choices. Two of the more truthful statements in recent culture are that we need a little help from our friends, and that sometimes we must depend on the kindness of strangers.
     If you don't know those two things & accept them, you will end up eventually in a bus of one kind or another.'"

The Search for Meaning
Science, spirituality, and our desire for satisfaction
by Galen Guengerich PhD
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-search-meaning/201304/roger-ebert-s-secret-success

P1xels   www.dpreview.com