Imagine you did not have to be the person you believe you are, or the person you are showing up as.
Imagine, in the few moments before you step into a role, as Mum, as the boss, as the one who holds everything together, you could choose how you show up and what you bring with you.
Because those roles are temporary. They come and go. And we can choose them.
We do choose them, when we slow down enough to notice.
Sit for long enough and something odd happens. At some point you flip from I am here meditating to I am watching the body meditate. You become aware of the breath, aware of the thoughts, and then it slowly goes further back and starts to dissolve even more.
Who is that?
Who are you when all the roles and all the thoughts and the ego and the chapters of the book you have written just get put down for a moment, and you simply sit?
That is what I talk about on this week's podcast. I am thinking about making it a series, because it is like the layers of an onion. Every time you reach a new layer, you can see the next one. The level you were on becomes the object of the level you are on now, and so the unpeeling and the growing and the expanding continues.
Stop, a few times a day, and ask, what am I showing up as now? What is my role currently?
You do not need an answer. The asking makes the space.
When everything gets put down for a moment, who is left sitting there? Hit reply and tell me. I read every one.
Be gentle with yourself this week.
And in all the roles that you show up as.
Much love, Steven
Stillness in the Storms 175, There Is No Steven in Here: What I Learned at the Bottom of a Swimming Pool. The pool, the surgeon, the onion, and the question underneath every other question. Listen here. Also on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Inner Peace Meditations 106, Become the Watcher: A Meditation to Quiet an Overthinking Mind. While the new companion meditation, Becoming the Observer, is on its way, this one sits you at the railway station and lets the trains of thought pass without boarding a single one. Listen here. Also on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Thank you to Yuva, Karin, Sue, HJ, Anita, Lorraine, Brandy, Jane, Sergio, Irma and Cheryl, who supported my work these past weeks, and to the anonymous supporters and everyone on Insight Timer. You all keep the podcasts free from adverts.
If you would like to support, listen to the podcasts, or just say hello: stevenwebb.uk