The bus ride in this morning was quiet. The bus was full with many people returning to their jobs the holidays having come to an end. No one seemed grumpy but nobody seemed pleased either. The talk offered by our new governor this past weekend was of sacrifice. Sacrifice if you have not heard the word in the context of government employment means employees taking a reduction in salary and health care. Nothing specific has been placed on the table yet so we simply wait silently for the appearance of the axe.
After the warming spell this weekend there is very little snow on the ground. This is a bit unusual for such an early date in January. While a winter in Michigan may ebb and flow early January is usually well covered in white. As the bus rolled along today the route was merely frosted. The neon signs showing a cannabis leaf inside a glowing red cross reflected on the pavement, the squares outlined in white.
I have been going back over Milton Mayeroff’s writing lately. I have been trying to rework what he said into an even more common parlance to aid my own understanding. I know there is danger in such action. I am not as smart as Mayeroff and I may be missing his nuanced meaning. Still rendering his thoughts in a form that is accessible to my mind is of some benefit because I have to think of what he really meant. Here is the section I have tried to parse most recently:
My life is understandable and knowable if I live my life in place in the current moment. When I keep myself aware of what things are relevant to my life and what I need for the purposes of my life I move toward real growth. These “things” are not abstractions. If I am not in place day to day my mind will easily become confused and the world I live in will cease to make sense. Awareness is an ongoing process and requires that I care for both myself and for those who have relevance in my life.
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Interestingly, one of the models for my practice (and my life) is Jean Watson who offers her "Theory of Caring." Her description includes the following:
Transpersonal caring relationships are the foundation of the work; transpersonal conveys a concern for the inner life world and subjective meaning of another who is fully embodied, but transpersonal also goes beyond the ego self and beyond the given moment, reaching to the deeper connections to spirit and with the broader universe. Thus transpersonal caring relationship moves beyond ego-self and radiates to spiritual, even cosmic concerns and connections that tap into healing possibilities and potentials. Transpersonal caring seeks to connect with and embrace the spirit or soul of the other through the processes of caring and healing and being in authentic relation, in the moment.
So, we are both moving towards an ontology that has at it's heart caring. I also feel that to genuinely care, then a certain death of ego must have first been achieved. In other words, to really care about others we must take ourselves out of first position in our consciousness.
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