How many costumes do you have?
Good morning :) I have been contemplating something from this past Halloween. Watching families walk down Stowe Street here in Waterbury, Vermont, I was struck by the ingenuity of everyone's costumes. From Elmo, to the monster in stranger things, clowns and witches; people's costumes were diverse and cool. That led me to think about costumes, not only the costumes we put on for Halloween, but the costumes of the self.
Costumes are the way actresses and actors hide their identities both externally and internally to become someone else. After their job is finished, they take off their costumes without much thought. During Halloween, millions of children and adults put on flashy, funky, and imaginative costumes to take on another identity for one night. After arriving back home, they slip off their disguise and get ready for bed.
Not unlike our creative Halloween costumes, every day most of us wake up and put on different costumes for our daily activities; work, play, going out, to express how we feel and for our different relationships. Are these costumes, the different parts of our psyches, really who we are?
What would happen if we could see the acting that we are doing?
What would happen if we stripped off these masks and discovered who we really are?
If we let go of our beliefs, conditioning and the identities we fall into, who would we be?
We are not our name. We are not our body. We are not our nation. We are not anything that is created with imagination. Keep going...
Where are you when all is silent? Here, in this complete wholeness of presence, you are. Here, fear drops away and love flows. Here, you can put on different masks and all the costumes of identity one wants and then slough them off whenever one pleases, with no attachment or holding.
Learn from the shows you watch, learn from dressing up for Halloween - it is just acting, nothing more, nothing less. Everything formed out of imagination is an act, nothing more, nothing less. If you want truth, let it all go.
- Garin
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We had such a blast at our first Yoga and Meditation Mini-Retreat for Absolute Beginners. We want to continue! We are so thankful for the small group of eager learners who arrived at our door. They helped us conceptualize a balance between 'retreat' and 'learning', and left us feeling motivated to navigate the complexity of teaching the basics of yoga and meditation in a whole-istic way.
We plan to have this offering about every 6 weeks on Saturdays.
Our next retreat will be in January. Don't hesitate- get on the wait-list!
Love University Blog
New post on Garin's case study on the impact dialogue has on the classroom.
Thought-provoking, inspirational, stirring.
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If you need a midday break, don't forget to be in touch. We have a community quiet space (yup, click here) just for you in downtown Waterbury.
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Looking forward to sharing with you soon!
April and Garin