As we walked and talked around Washington Park, my friend was wondering why she could not seem to find her passion and did not know what to do with herself. She spoke as though there was something wrong with her that she wasn’t passionately doing something. As we continued along, what became abundantly clear was that my friend was deeply content with her life as it is – but could not make peace with simply being happy. Rather she felt that happiness and contentment could only come if she were doing something to earn them.

And isn’t this just how so many of us think? No matter how our life is presenting itself to us, we feel as though we should be doing more – almost as if we have to prove that we have a right to be here, taking up space, breathing this air and walking upon this precious earth. And, really, what is called for is simply being. There is no greater purpose in this life than to be exactly who we are in any given moment, with all the authenticity and reverence that we can muster. And I must say that to be saturated with contentment, well, there is no greater service to humanity than to be just that. When we feel content, our hearts are open and we are relaxed – which is a simple and powerful place from which to engage life on every level, open-hearted and relaxed. Can you imagine if everyone were open-hearted and relaxed?

There will always be plenty of time and space in which to be anxious, overwhelmed, busy, working hard, wanting, needing, serving, doing . . . And all of these states can be portals to passion and creativity. But what of these rare moments of pure contentment – can we relax into this state of ease, loosen the grip of having to justify our existence and accept that being here, being exactly who we are, is enough? Can we let go of the idea that passion is about doing and realize that passion is also about being?

As my friend and I finished our walk and talk, we left with an enthusiastic and delightful inquiry on our minds – what does it look like to be passionately content? Does contentment augment creativity, pleasure, appreciation, gratitude and full on enjoyment of this amazing thing called life? And, is it possible to practice contentment even in the most difficult of times?

Deep blessings to you, Carol

This entry was posted on Friday, January 27th, 2012 at 5:58 pm and is filed under e-rhythms, Rhythm of Life Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.