…every morning is Easter morning from now on…

This statement has the potential of being a text strand between my brothers and I this morning. It is in reference to an early memory of attending church on Easter morning when we were kids. 

I would say my childhood version of attending church was much like my version of attending school: avoid what you didn’t want to do, and when possible, use your personality to get what you want. I figured out how to be in the kids room to ‘babysit’ during the service. There were snacks there, but in fairness – I loved playing with the kids and having fun. It was a good fit. 

My experience of church has evolved over the years. The only physical church I have attended for the last twenty years has been a wedding, or with my parents on Christmas Eve. If the symbolism of a church is a sanctuary, then I attend regularly – on long walks, morning Quiet Time, and most of the time I spend in my car. 

In my twenties, I had a powerful inner experience of what Jesus symbolized. I felt the belief. To me, the experience of Jesus is inclusivity, belonging, healing, transformation, truth, abundance – an outpouring of unconditional love. It’s interesting that the story seems to be that Jesus was crucified for presenting as such. But. Couldn’t be destroyed. All that goodness couldn’t NOT be. 

This is where I am going to stop interpreting because I don’t feel I necessarily have all the information. I am curious about the caste system – kings, rulers, power over the people. I am also curious about the threat of what Jesus represented. 

In 2024, I interpret wellbeing as the energy source of pure potential. It exists. It cannot be created or destroyed. Is it threatening to others to value this feeling state first, and then move toward daily demands and expectations second? 

The state exists. It doesn’t need to be forced, proved, compared, criticized, or judged. But. Spending time pushing against it and what is the right way to define it, express it, or experience it, will keep one disconnected from what’s possible. 

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And now for today’s betterway excerpt…

Reflective questions –

1. Can you name three things that you love? Are they different than what you would have said three years ago? Is that okay?
2. What feeling state is ‘underneath’ the three things you came up with? For example, here are my three: morning Quiet Time (what’s underneath? stability and truth), slow starts (underneath? plenty, abundance), new office and huge monitor I can see and not have to look down (change and possibility).
3. Can you recognize a feeling state of *somethingmore? How would you describe it? Do you take time to access it intentionally? why or why not? Would it benefit you to seek out time to intentionally access this state? If so, when/where could this happen?

*how I refer to the aspect of wellbeing currently, or the feeling state I described in the beginning of this blog, in church, or when I considered Jesus – inclusive, abundant, healing, transcendent, possible, infinite, expansive, etc

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A few shares to part with…

I really like the Rich Roll podcast. I like Rich Roll. I also like his wife. Julie Piatt is often a guest on the podcast. I like Rich Roll’s conversational style and how he is able to synthesize relevant information and use transformative, or at least clear, language to summarize or to ask a question. This past week I listened to the 2023 recap episodes that included short blurbs from the year’s interviews. There is a part one and a part two. My algorithm has mulitplied – 90% of the blurbs result in me wanting to seek out the full episode and learn more. My favorite person right now is Zach Bush. I referred to him in a blog post months ago. The first time I heard him on Andre Duquom’s podcast, I wanted to turn him off – it was too dense, and the information he shared sounded too advanced for me to comprehend. And then I listened again in the spaciousness of a Saturday morning. It was life changing. Rich interviewed him early in 2023, and I listened to the entirety yesterday morning (again, a Saturday…). He is my current guy – the cell.