Naw Ruz.... and Letting Go :-)

Friends, here begins the next leg of my personal journey and journal.

It is a New Year for me. Having just completed the 19-Day Fast of my Baha'i Faith, I found myself on a journey inward unlike anything I have encountered thus far in my life. I do not try to be dramatic. The questions I posed to myself in prayer and fasting were difficult and deep... and, at times, scary. They were not scary in terms of horrible or horrific. They were scary because they challenged my attachments.

In my praying and fasting and reading the work of Martha Beck, I kept coming back to this notion of attachment. Then I had a dream last night that was clearly all about the "letting go". CLEARLY.

In Revenge of the Sith, Yoda says to Anakin "fear of loss is the path to the dark side". I believe that he is talking of attachment; the kind of attachment that is born of comfort... and not the comfort that is heavenly... but the one based on avoidance of fear and uncertainty.

I had not realized how insidious that fear could be.. how subtle. For all intents and purposes, I have been striving and working towards new goals and dreams. I have been moving on a path of "success". Still, I was not realizing that I was somehow not letting go of old attachments.

During this past Fast and into Naw Ruz (my new year), I prayed and meditated. I had cool conversations with great honest and audacious and loving friends. I allowed myself to just experience... the way a child experiences, without preconceptions. I opened mt heart and head to observance, pure. At times it was daunting. At other times, mesmerizing.

Without belaboring, here is what I found myself writing this evening... and upon completion, I smiled... the kind of smile unforced and deep.

Barry Lewis Green

I am a Baha'i... living, praying and reaching, devoted to Baha'u'llah... a pilgrim literally and figuratively. I find my joy in Salsa and singing... in football, cartooning, writing, creating, archery and improv. I find my joy in peaceful mornings and starry evenings, in ocean views and on drives... and with my dog companion Panda. I am a virtues student. I am a man of house and home, and the open road by car and cycle. I serve the world in founding Lhu Global and Lhu Local, and in my work as an educator at College of the North Atlantic. This is me, now. This is who I am.

My suggestion?

Spend time with you. Meditate. Pray. Listen. Experience. Then, articulate you and your true joys... those things where you "remember" who you are. When I engage in these activities I have noted, I lose myself in time. They are moments of bliss for me.

What are yours? Who are you?

In my passion for unity, I contend that the truest unity starts with us each finding ourselves and knowing that we all count... we all bring something cool to the table.

What will you bring?

Love, honour and unity folks.

Peace.

Barry G.

PS

Check out my hUmaNITY blog at www.theunityguyblog.com.