Expanding the space in between

I've been thinking a lot lately about how binary we are -- in so many areas of life. In politics: Democrat or Republican. Conservative or liberal. In culture: Old or young. Hip or square. In society: Single or married. Male or female. Even going beyond the either this or that construction to ternary or quaternary and on and on, we are still inclined to be so sure of what we see as differentiation.

I guess that's just human nature. And, it's surely got an evolutionary value. But it just feels like we need to slow it down and find where those Venn curvesoverlap and spend some time in that space.

Sit down and take some nice deep breaths. Follow your breath in. Follow your breath out. When does your in breath become your out breath? Does the inhalation have a beginning and an end? The exhalation? It can make me a little anxious to even think about it while doing this exercise and if I kept on thinking like that I might even get a little crazy...which is exactly the point.

It's not an either/or, and setting it up that way can make you feel nuts. Not only might you be seeing the world that way, but I can guarantee lots of others are and do, and that impacts you.

Life is a continuum. You and I are a continuum. It all is. We co-exist. We are simultaneous with everything and everyone. So we overlap, we overtake, we recede, we balance. We breathe in. We breathe out. We are born, we grow, we die. We fall in love, fall out of love, fall in love anew. We are one way, and then we change, and after that, we see what once was one way is somehow a different way now.

Breathe in. Breathe out. It is all breath and you make room for what you need when it is necessary. You let go of what you do not need when it is unnecessary.

It is all necessary. It is all unnecessary. You are the one and you are part of the one. Look for all the places that you overlap with others more often. See where they overlap with you and with themselves and others. Spend some time there, this week.