If This Were My Last Podcast

Links to Steven Webb’s podcast and how you can support his work.

If this were my last podcast, what would I want to leave you with?

I sat down with a cup of coffee, almost no script, and one line from Rainer Maria Rilke that stopped me in my tracks.

The first thing is to accept this moment wholeheartedly. It is already here. We cannot change the weather that has arrived, the thought that has appeared or the cushion underneath us. We can only choose what we do next.

That does not mean becoming stuck. We can get comfortable with the present moment and still keep our shoes nearby. Some pain asks us to rest. Some pain asks us to move. Both can be true, sometimes within the same hour.

In this episode, I explore why difficult memories stay with us, what happens when we exile the emotions we do not like, and why listening to an inner voice is not the same as letting it lead. Rilke’s poem Go to the Limits of Your Longing becomes a companion for making room for beauty and terror, while remembering that no feeling gets the run of the whole house.

I finish with a small practice. Ask what needs accepting right now, what you may be refusing to hear, and what small colour you can let back into your life.

Stillness in the Storms is independent and advert free. To contact me, join the Weekly Calm or support my work, visit https://stevenwebb.uk

What is in this episode

  • (00:00) The Rilke line that stopped me in my tracks
  • (00:45) If this were my last podcast, what would I leave you with?
  • (01:15) Welcome and thanks to the people keeping the podcasts advert free
  • (02:15) Accepting the moment that has already arrived
  • (03:20) Why we cannot simply replace every difficult thought
  • (04:10) Getting comfortable on the cushion, but not too comfortable
  • (05:10) When suffering pulls us inward and when it pushes us forward
  • (06:10) Why the difficult memories stay with us
  • (07:20) Samsara and the whole spectrum of being alive
  • (08:15) Grab a pillow, but keep your shoes nearby
  • (08:45) Listening to every inner voice without giving each one equal weight
  • (10:20) Rainer Maria Rilke and Go to the Limits of Your Longing
  • (11:15) The Rilke words that inspired this episode
  • (11:35) No feeling gets the run of the whole house
  • (12:20) Why live with only half the rainbow?
  • (14:20) How we narrow life to the colours and feelings we already know
  • (15:35) Love, grief and the two ends of the same stick
  • (16:40) The advice I would leave behind
  • (17:50) A small practice for acceptance and a wider life

The chapter times are taken from the final transcript and should be checked against the finished audio before publishing.

One practice for this week

Pause and ask:

What needs accepting right now?

Is there a feeling or a voice I am refusing to hear?

What small colour can I let into my life?

You do not have to obey every voice or enjoy every feeling. Just let it be heard. Then decide what deserves the steering wheel.

Notable quotes from the recording

“Learn to get comfortable on the cushion you’re on, but not too comfortable.” (04:10)

“Grab a pillow, get a little comfortable, but keep your shoes nearby.” (08:15)

“If we exile half the emotions that we don’t like, we lose half the information.” (10:05)

“No feeling needs to be banished. No feeling needs to get the run of the whole house either.” (11:35)

“Remember all voices are valid, but they’ve not all got the same weight.” (17:40)

“What needs accepting right now?” (17:50)

Links

  • Contact Steven, join the Weekly Calm or support the podcasts: https://stevenwebb.uk
  • Rainer Maria Rilke’s Go to the Limits of Your Longing, translated by Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows: https://onbeing.org/poetry/go-to-the-limits-of-your-longing/

Poem credit

In this episode I quote from and reflect on Go to the Limits of Your Longing by Rainer Maria Rilke, from Rilke’s Book of Hours: Love Poems to God. The English translation is by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy and was published by Riverhead Books.

Copyright in the English translation remains with the copyright holders. The short quotation is fully credited and discussed in the context of commentary and reflection.

You can read the credited translation and hear Joanna Macy’s own reading at https://onbeing.org/poetry/go-to-the-limits-of-your-longing/

Thank you

Sangha, Jesse, Anita, Sue, Evelyn and Glenn. Your support helps keep Stillness in the Storms and Inner Peace Meditations free from adverts.

1
00:00:00,049 --> 00:00:04,099
Let everything happen to
you: beauty and terror.

2
00:00:04,899 --> 00:00:05,829
Just keep going.

3
00:00:06,719 --> 00:00:08,079
No feeling is final

4
00:00:11,089 --> 00:00:16,519
I'm just sat here with a cup of
coffee next to no script, and

5
00:00:16,519 --> 00:00:18,259
I just want to record a podcast

6
00:00:20,769 --> 00:00:28,739
based on partly what I've just
read, a poem by Rainer Rilke, and

7
00:00:28,739 --> 00:00:33,109
that line literally stopped me in
my tracks and blew my socks off.

8
00:00:34,289 --> 00:00:37,539
I will return to that line and that
quote at the end of the podcast,

9
00:00:37,919 --> 00:00:39,589
and I will read the poem to you.

10
00:00:41,169 --> 00:00:46,799
But if this was my last podcast,
which I sincerely hope it is not,

11
00:00:48,289 --> 00:00:54,739
what would be the one or two bits
of advice at this stage in my life

12
00:00:54,779 --> 00:00:59,269
that I would leave you with that
I think would be most beneficial?

13
00:01:01,883 --> 00:01:03,613
And I think it'd be a couple of things

14
00:01:05,701 --> 00:01:10,561
Hi, I'm Steven Webb and welcome to
Stillness in the Storms, the podcast that

15
00:01:10,571 --> 00:01:12,971
helps you to suffer a little bit less.

16
00:01:14,911 --> 00:01:16,961
So today is about living.

17
00:01:17,091 --> 00:01:20,001
Today is about a little
bit of wisdom and advice.

18
00:01:20,511 --> 00:01:24,901
It's about acceptance, and
it's about not becoming stuck.

19
00:01:25,611 --> 00:01:30,621
It's about getting on with life no
matter what your situation you're in.

20
00:01:31,561 --> 00:01:36,351
But just before I move on to the
podcast itself, I've got to thank

21
00:01:36,371 --> 00:01:42,581
some dear friends and dear friends
of the podcast and the meditations.

22
00:01:43,051 --> 00:01:46,831
Without them, you'd be listening
to adverts now, and Christ

23
00:01:46,841 --> 00:01:48,001
knows what they would be about.

24
00:01:48,621 --> 00:01:54,321
So I wanna thank Sangha, Jesse,
Anita, Sue, Evelyn, and Glenn.

25
00:01:54,651 --> 00:01:56,231
Glenn, huge donation.

26
00:01:56,681 --> 00:01:58,041
Thank you so much.

27
00:01:59,701 --> 00:02:02,931
You guys keep the adverts
away from all my podcasts.

28
00:02:03,721 --> 00:02:07,571
I've always said I would never put
adverts in them, but there's so

29
00:02:07,571 --> 00:02:12,401
many downloads now that there's no
way I could do it without you guys.

30
00:02:12,821 --> 00:02:14,581
So thank you so much.

31
00:02:15,311 --> 00:02:19,368
If you wanted to support or you wanted
to hear about the Inner Peace meditations

32
00:02:19,608 --> 00:02:25,868
or join my weekly calm, just head over
to stevenwebb.uk One thing that I've

33
00:02:25,868 --> 00:02:31,268
learned more than anything else, being
paralyzed, being bankrupt, being cheated

34
00:02:31,268 --> 00:02:38,308
on, being in severe pain, bleeding,
and having, uh, the most horrendous

35
00:02:38,308 --> 00:02:47,018
days ending up in a hospital and in
the most dire situations, is accept the

36
00:02:47,018 --> 00:02:48,768
moment wholeheartedly for what it is.

37
00:02:48,798 --> 00:02:49,438
Because guess what?

38
00:02:49,978 --> 00:02:51,058
You cannot change it.

39
00:02:51,848 --> 00:02:54,568
There's nothing you can do
to change the present moment.

40
00:02:54,948 --> 00:02:56,878
You cannot grow your hair longer.

41
00:02:57,158 --> 00:02:59,218
You cannot lose weight in this moment.

42
00:02:59,528 --> 00:03:01,538
You cannot get younger.

43
00:03:01,918 --> 00:03:03,898
You, you cannot change the weather.

44
00:03:03,958 --> 00:03:08,178
You cannot change the color of your house.

45
00:03:09,078 --> 00:03:12,708
There, there's just nothing you
can do once the moment has arrived.

46
00:03:13,018 --> 00:03:15,518
You cannot even change your thoughts.

47
00:03:16,638 --> 00:03:22,378
I talk about this quite often about
people always say, and I used to preach

48
00:03:22,378 --> 00:03:26,218
this all the time, "Just change your
negative thoughts into positive thoughts.

49
00:03:26,758 --> 00:03:30,458
Just think positively." Well, it just
doesn't work like that because when

50
00:03:30,458 --> 00:03:34,968
you have a thought, and what's deemed
negative is very often actually a positive

51
00:03:34,978 --> 00:03:40,088
thought because it's protecting you
or, like, alerting you to something,

52
00:03:40,448 --> 00:03:43,168
and we have a, a bad judgment of it.

53
00:03:43,858 --> 00:03:46,888
We're like, "That's bad. We don't
want those thoughts," when really

54
00:03:46,898 --> 00:03:48,858
we do need those thoughts sometimes.

55
00:03:50,418 --> 00:03:54,098
So you cannot change,
even change a thought.

56
00:03:54,098 --> 00:03:54,918
So when it's arrived.

57
00:03:54,978 --> 00:03:55,828
It's there already.

58
00:03:57,258 --> 00:04:00,468
You can change what you do with
it, the same as the present moment.

59
00:04:01,408 --> 00:04:05,368
So as soon as the present moment
is already here, we spend so much

60
00:04:05,368 --> 00:04:10,138
of our strength and so much of
our mind power and our energy

61
00:04:10,238 --> 00:04:12,378
arguing with what's already here.

62
00:04:13,888 --> 00:04:15,108
I wish it wasn't this way.

63
00:04:15,108 --> 00:04:16,578
I wish it wasn't raining.

64
00:04:17,488 --> 00:04:19,118
Just, grab the umbrella.

65
00:04:20,218 --> 00:04:24,298
It's used so much that I don't know
if I even like the phrase anymore.

66
00:04:24,648 --> 00:04:27,208
It's like learn to dance
in the rain, but it's true.

67
00:04:27,858 --> 00:04:30,488
There's so much depth
to that brilliant quote.

68
00:04:31,498 --> 00:04:34,328
It's learn to get comfortable
on the cushion you're on,

69
00:04:35,448 --> 00:04:36,528
but not too comfortable.

70
00:04:37,978 --> 00:04:41,408
Don't get too comfortable dancing in
the rain that you never want it to stop

71
00:04:41,428 --> 00:04:45,018
raining, but while it's raining, dance.

72
00:04:45,668 --> 00:04:47,858
While it's uncomfortable,
be uncomfortable.

73
00:04:48,868 --> 00:04:51,808
You know, if you're deep in
meditation, scratch the itch.

74
00:04:52,568 --> 00:04:53,668
Another one will be along.

75
00:04:53,688 --> 00:04:54,788
Don't worry about it.

76
00:04:55,548 --> 00:04:58,668
Don't, don't worry about getting rid of
some of your suffering because trust me,

77
00:04:58,978 --> 00:05:00,738
pain will come along sooner or later.

78
00:05:01,128 --> 00:05:03,998
You won't get rid of it all,
but what we can do is just

79
00:05:03,998 --> 00:05:05,588
learn to accept that moment.

80
00:05:07,058 --> 00:05:12,538
And very often, sometimes we
become the hero of all that pain.

81
00:05:12,988 --> 00:05:15,648
I spoke about this quite
at length last week.

82
00:05:16,658 --> 00:05:21,018
That hero that suffers from
the uncomfortable cushion,

83
00:05:22,208 --> 00:05:24,328
yeah, give it some energy.

84
00:05:24,348 --> 00:05:30,118
Give it some, I don't know,
some empowerment, but don't give

85
00:05:30,118 --> 00:05:33,068
it too much because you won't
be able to move on from it.

86
00:05:33,068 --> 00:05:38,918
That hero also has to have the
drive to not only accept the present

87
00:05:38,918 --> 00:05:42,178
moment, but also to have the drive
to change the present moment.

88
00:05:42,888 --> 00:05:50,768
And suffering either pulls us inward,
and we rest there, or it pushes us

89
00:05:50,768 --> 00:05:57,538
forward and allow for both to be true
because both are true, and both of

90
00:05:57,538 --> 00:06:02,268
them change simultaneously and change
during the day, change during the hour.

91
00:06:02,818 --> 00:06:07,088
If you're anything like me or every human
I've ever come across, you know, your

92
00:06:07,128 --> 00:06:12,468
energy and your energy levels can change
quicker than the weather can change

93
00:06:13,468 --> 00:06:16,128
I heard a great question the other day.

94
00:06:16,438 --> 00:06:22,278
It was a guy having a conversation with
ChatGPT, and he, he asked ChatGPT, " why

95
00:06:22,278 --> 00:06:27,648
do I remember the tougher times when
I'm embarrassed or when I'm in shame

96
00:06:27,648 --> 00:06:34,278
or when I was feeling hurt over the
times when I was happy?" And ChatGPT

97
00:06:34,278 --> 00:06:38,248
replied with, "Well, the times you
were happy already did their job."

98
00:06:40,354 --> 00:06:41,644
And boom, just like that.

99
00:06:41,804 --> 00:06:42,664
Absolutely

100
00:06:45,258 --> 00:06:49,878
When things are happy, when
things are okay, there's nothing

101
00:06:49,888 --> 00:06:50,928
you need to do with that.

102
00:06:50,988 --> 00:06:51,768
It's already there.

103
00:06:51,818 --> 00:06:52,448
That's it.

104
00:06:53,468 --> 00:06:53,748
It's okay

105
00:06:54,754 --> 00:07:00,284
But the times of hard, the times
of pain, they, they stay there

106
00:07:00,284 --> 00:07:01,854
until you learn the lesson.

107
00:07:02,844 --> 00:07:08,374
They stay there until you've either
suffered enough and you do something

108
00:07:08,384 --> 00:07:15,934
about it, or at some point in your life,
a similar pain will show up and you've

109
00:07:15,934 --> 00:07:19,094
got the muscles there, and you go,
"I know what to do with this moment,"

110
00:07:19,934 --> 00:07:22,164
because that happened years and years ago

111
00:07:23,164 --> 00:07:27,794
And there's no permanent
end to the pain or wanting.

112
00:07:29,944 --> 00:07:34,744
Samsara is, samsara is like
the map of the conscious life.

113
00:07:35,284 --> 00:07:44,004
It's just the constant cycle of born,
pain, suffering, desires, wanting,

114
00:07:44,014 --> 00:07:46,984
happiness, sadness, the rain and shine.

115
00:07:47,344 --> 00:07:48,744
That's life.

116
00:07:49,664 --> 00:07:51,464
That's what's so beautiful about life.

117
00:07:51,464 --> 00:07:53,334
It's all of it rolled into one.

118
00:07:54,874 --> 00:08:00,144
It's that, the whole spectrum, the
whole rainbow, the whole emotions,

119
00:08:00,764 --> 00:08:07,324
from pure enlightenment to shame
and guilt, and everything in between

120
00:08:08,324 --> 00:08:12,724
So when I talk about life and sorry
this podcast is going a bit here and

121
00:08:12,724 --> 00:08:20,084
there and flipping to and fro, but, you
know, grab a pillow and experience it.

122
00:08:20,784 --> 00:08:25,154
Enjoy the ride, no matter if
the ride is a bit uncomfortable

123
00:08:27,298 --> 00:08:28,648
We're partly in control.

124
00:08:29,628 --> 00:08:31,498
We're partly in control
of what happens next

125
00:08:32,498 --> 00:08:35,918
So if you do grab the-- a wonderful
metaphor, actually, just thinking

126
00:08:35,968 --> 00:08:36,858
about it off the top of my head.

127
00:08:37,608 --> 00:08:40,768
Wonderful metaphor is grab a
pillow, get a little comfortable,

128
00:08:41,498 --> 00:08:43,038
but keep your shoes nearby.

129
00:08:45,888 --> 00:08:47,358
That's the whole point, and

130
00:08:48,358 --> 00:08:54,868
When we start embracing all of our voices
and all of our emotions inside of us, and

131
00:08:54,868 --> 00:08:56,948
I'm not saying give them all equal weight.

132
00:08:56,988 --> 00:09:02,478
I'm not saying every emotion is
valid and every emotion is equal,

133
00:09:03,068 --> 00:09:08,218
every truth is the same truth, and
every truth is perfectly equal.

134
00:09:08,258 --> 00:09:09,558
No, they're not.

135
00:09:10,328 --> 00:09:15,878
And every single voice is not
equally, how can I say it?

136
00:09:15,888 --> 00:09:16,238
Healthy

137
00:09:18,874 --> 00:09:21,974
But all of them do have
some weight somewhere.

138
00:09:22,964 --> 00:09:25,474
And depending on where you're to
and what you're doing, you know,

139
00:09:25,474 --> 00:09:30,994
if you're climbing a mountain, that
voice of hunger is probably not

140
00:09:31,014 --> 00:09:32,744
the most important one to have.

141
00:09:33,504 --> 00:09:37,204
The, the voice of fear or
anxiety, absolutely, that has

142
00:09:37,204 --> 00:09:38,424
a lot of weight in that moment.

143
00:09:38,764 --> 00:09:43,894
But if you're sat and you've got nothing
to do, and you haven't ate for four days,

144
00:09:44,344 --> 00:09:47,954
and things are relatively comfortable,
that voice of, "Hey, I'm hungry.

145
00:09:48,664 --> 00:09:53,754
What's in the cupboard?" That voice is
valid and got weight in that moment.

146
00:09:54,714 --> 00:10:01,434
So all voices and all of our emotions
and everything that we experience

147
00:10:01,434 --> 00:10:10,814
should be just experience it, enjoy
it, embrace it, and learn to treat

148
00:10:10,924 --> 00:10:13,234
every voice as a friend in some way.

149
00:10:14,394 --> 00:10:19,224
"Hey, what you telling me? Why
are you showing up now? Thank

150
00:10:19,224 --> 00:10:20,564
you for being here for me."

151
00:10:23,398 --> 00:10:24,888
And it's the same with emotions.

152
00:10:24,888 --> 00:10:31,718
If we exile half the emotions that we
don't like, we lose half the information

153
00:10:32,718 --> 00:10:34,828
and it brings me back to Rainer Rilke.

154
00:10:35,578 --> 00:10:40,618
He was a Bohemian Austrian,
and he was a poet rather than a

155
00:10:40,688 --> 00:10:42,258
traditional spiritual teacher.

156
00:10:42,568 --> 00:10:48,988
But I think he'd done so much for the
spiritual teaching, and it comes from the

157
00:10:48,998 --> 00:10:51,298
poem, "Go to the Limits of Your Longing."

158
00:10:53,338 --> 00:10:58,408
And the poem appears in one of
his books, and it was translated,

159
00:10:58,408 --> 00:11:00,668
so it may not be perfect words.

160
00:11:01,828 --> 00:11:05,898
As far as I understand and what I
read about him, because when that

161
00:11:05,898 --> 00:11:09,508
poem just blew my mind, I had to
go and find out a bit about him.

162
00:11:10,648 --> 00:11:15,308
And he had a lot to do with the
Russian spiritual teaching and

163
00:11:16,428 --> 00:11:22,198
the English translation by Joanna
Macy and Anita Burrows, I think.

164
00:11:23,268 --> 00:11:25,098
Um, I'm trying to do it
off the top of my head now.

165
00:11:26,488 --> 00:11:29,448
But the line, "Let
everything happen to you.

166
00:11:30,288 --> 00:11:32,988
Beauty and terror, just keep going

167
00:11:33,538 --> 00:11:34,998
No feeling is final.

168
00:11:35,728 --> 00:11:40,898
And I think living life means experiencing
everything, being part of everything.

169
00:11:42,458 --> 00:11:44,298
No feeling needs to be banished.

170
00:11:44,328 --> 00:11:48,588
No feeling needs to get the
run of the whole house either.

171
00:11:48,928 --> 00:11:50,768
I think that's really important.

172
00:11:51,558 --> 00:11:52,978
You know, it's like a rainbow.

173
00:11:53,508 --> 00:12:00,998
Just imagine if… Now, I don't know
what the afterlife is, and I don't really

174
00:12:01,598 --> 00:12:03,718
take much time in thinking about it.

175
00:12:05,048 --> 00:12:09,878
I think my version of what the afterlife
is is completely irrelevant because we've

176
00:12:09,878 --> 00:12:12,078
got to think about we're living here now.

177
00:12:13,088 --> 00:12:19,308
And, but you imagine if you did have an
afterlife and there was 30 seconds or

178
00:12:19,388 --> 00:12:24,538
the elevator pitch, as some people might
say, and you had that opportunity and

179
00:12:24,538 --> 00:12:27,478
someone had that opportunity to say to
you, and imagine if they looked up and

180
00:12:27,478 --> 00:12:32,808
said to you, "Oh, by the way, why did
you only choose to see half the rainbow?"

181
00:12:35,224 --> 00:12:39,264
Why did you only play the first
two albums of your favorite band?

182
00:12:40,814 --> 00:12:47,134
That's what it would be like not living
your life to the full, just living in

183
00:12:47,134 --> 00:12:51,254
the low spectrum of emotions or living
in the high spectrum of emotions.

184
00:12:51,564 --> 00:12:56,194
Can you imagine spending your whole time
just walking through forests and loving

185
00:12:56,204 --> 00:13:01,254
life and loving everybody and never
experiencing the despair and the pain?

186
00:13:02,964 --> 00:13:06,314
That wouldn't be much joy either
because it would become normal

187
00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:14,360
And I think the more we realize
that we have this whole spectrum of

188
00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:16,620
emotions… So you take evolution.

189
00:13:17,350 --> 00:13:23,230
For several million years, if
not more than that, humans didn't

190
00:13:23,270 --> 00:13:25,070
have these complex emotions.

191
00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:30,040
You know, dogs and cats have a few
emotions, but they don't have many.

192
00:13:30,490 --> 00:13:31,670
They don't laugh and smile.

193
00:13:31,670 --> 00:13:33,720
They don't play, tell jokes.

194
00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:35,520
They're not scheming and plotting.

195
00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:38,680
Well, maybe cats are, but
I don't think dogs are.

196
00:13:39,700 --> 00:13:43,850
You know, they have a feel good or they
have a feel fear, but they don't have all

197
00:13:43,860 --> 00:13:46,040
the complex emotions that humans have.

198
00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:53,800
So we're living in a most amazing
time where humans are now experiencing

199
00:13:54,080 --> 00:14:00,230
the biggest range of emotions that
any evolved living thing on the

200
00:14:00,230 --> 00:14:05,210
planet has ever experienced, and
you are at the cutting edge of that.

201
00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:10,070
You are literally at the most
forefront of all these emotions.

202
00:14:11,260 --> 00:14:12,730
You can see more colors.

203
00:14:12,730 --> 00:14:15,520
You can see in more details.

204
00:14:16,610 --> 00:14:22,310
You can literally look across
the room and see in such details

205
00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:24,360
anything you look at with your eyes.

206
00:14:24,630 --> 00:14:26,050
How incredible is that?

207
00:14:26,950 --> 00:14:30,110
With your ears, you can hear
music and different notes.

208
00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:32,020
You can feel emotions.

209
00:14:33,930 --> 00:14:39,570
We spend too much time trying to narrow
down how we're living life because we want

210
00:14:39,570 --> 00:14:47,260
to narrow it down to just being happy or
just being comfortable or the, the paints

211
00:14:47,260 --> 00:14:49,190
that we like and the colors that we like.

212
00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:53,490
We have a favorite color, and I
have a favorite color, earthy tones.

213
00:14:53,530 --> 00:14:55,900
You know, green and slate
are my favorite colors.

214
00:14:56,230 --> 00:15:00,290
They happen to be in now, which is
brilliant because I think all decorating

215
00:15:00,290 --> 00:15:03,650
has suddenly caught up with me, or
they're my favorite at the moment.

216
00:15:03,650 --> 00:15:04,180
I don't know.

217
00:15:04,620 --> 00:15:10,000
But it's-- I think we just narrow it
down what we like, and we stay there.

218
00:15:11,260 --> 00:15:13,900
I would love to try different things.

219
00:15:14,210 --> 00:15:15,770
Doesn't mean to say I'm gonna like them.

220
00:15:15,770 --> 00:15:21,210
It doesn't mean to say I love feelings
of depression or feelings of sadness

221
00:15:21,210 --> 00:15:26,870
and shame and guilt, but what would
life be if you did not experience them?

222
00:15:28,780 --> 00:15:33,970
What would love be if you did
not experience pain and loss?

223
00:15:34,970 --> 00:15:41,400
And when I watched the film Albatross and
the narrator at the end talking about the

224
00:15:41,410 --> 00:15:46,740
birds on Midway Island not able to leave
because of the plastic pollution, when

225
00:15:46,740 --> 00:15:53,240
he looked up and said, "For the first
time, I understood what grieving meant."

226
00:15:55,874 --> 00:15:58,184
Grieving and love is the same thing.

227
00:15:58,424 --> 00:16:02,744
It's a strong emotion,
just the opposite ends.

228
00:16:04,404 --> 00:16:05,524
It's the same stick.

229
00:16:05,534 --> 00:16:09,284
It's the same experience

230
00:16:12,002 --> 00:16:15,832
We don't wanna chop the stick down
to just the end we want because

231
00:16:17,712 --> 00:16:19,042
how would we know the difference?

232
00:16:20,042 --> 00:16:23,172
I think I'm gonna leave the podcast
there because my daughter's just turned

233
00:16:23,172 --> 00:16:26,722
up, and it's great to see her, and we're
gonna head up to a family barbecue.

234
00:16:26,962 --> 00:16:30,032
Seems like I'm always having barbecues
at the moment, but it's summer.

235
00:16:30,062 --> 00:16:30,782
That's what we do.

236
00:16:30,912 --> 00:16:32,702
I love the burnt barbecue food.

237
00:16:33,482 --> 00:16:38,512
Um, drop me an email, drop me a
comment on any of these in the review.

238
00:16:38,732 --> 00:16:41,912
And in the review, just tell
me your favorite barbecue food.

239
00:16:43,112 --> 00:16:50,942
Look, just if this was my last podcast,
it would be learn to be comfortable

240
00:16:50,942 --> 00:16:54,502
with the present moment because you
cannot change the present moment,

241
00:16:56,532 --> 00:16:58,702
and try to experience everything.

242
00:16:59,362 --> 00:17:00,542
Put on a new album.

243
00:17:02,002 --> 00:17:05,082
Pick up a different type of
paint if you're an artist.

244
00:17:06,692 --> 00:17:08,712
You know, experience different feelings.

245
00:17:08,782 --> 00:17:10,432
Ask the uncomfortable question.

246
00:17:10,872 --> 00:17:14,612
Read a book by an artist that
you've never even thought about.

247
00:17:14,942 --> 00:17:18,862
Say to someone, "What's your favorite
book?" And just read it, even if you

248
00:17:18,862 --> 00:17:24,323
don't think it'll fit you You might be
surprised Other wisdom I could offer?

249
00:17:25,052 --> 00:17:27,812
And just some simple, like little things.

250
00:17:28,102 --> 00:17:29,322
Meet people where they are.

251
00:17:29,972 --> 00:17:33,602
Stop expecting them to meet
us exactly where we are.

252
00:17:34,632 --> 00:17:37,002
Try to understand rather than overstand

253
00:17:38,002 --> 00:17:39,712
Remember there's multiple truths.

254
00:17:40,142 --> 00:17:43,632
Remember all voices are valid, but
they've not all got the same weight

255
00:17:44,620 --> 00:17:48,710
And if I was to leave you with a small
practice this week, it would be just

256
00:17:48,710 --> 00:17:51,550
ask what needs accepting right now?

257
00:17:52,550 --> 00:17:54,280
What needs accepting right now?

258
00:17:56,350 --> 00:17:57,200
Is there a feeling?

259
00:17:57,200 --> 00:17:58,320
Is there a voice?

260
00:17:59,290 --> 00:18:01,220
What am I refusing to see or hear?

261
00:18:02,022 --> 00:18:04,092
What small color can I let into my life?

262
00:18:04,660 --> 00:18:05,380
So there you go.

263
00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:10,010
That's my podcast, and hopefully
it's not gonna be my last.

264
00:18:10,010 --> 00:18:11,800
But that's my thoughts.

265
00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:17,570
You know, accept this moment completely
and wholeheartedly and expand your range.

266
00:18:17,630 --> 00:18:19,640
Just start to enjoy everything.

267
00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:27,170
Stay awake, enjoy life, see the little
leaf on the tree, see all the colors.

268
00:18:28,670 --> 00:18:29,720
Ah, yeah.

269
00:18:30,950 --> 00:18:35,750
And just thank you to everybody that
donates and supports and the emails.

270
00:18:36,230 --> 00:18:40,600
Thank you to everybody on my
weekly calm, and look, take care.

271
00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:43,960
I'll speak to you soon, and I love you