{"id":3170,"date":"2020-05-29T12:50:06","date_gmt":"2020-05-29T16:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/juliannedavidow.com\/demonew\/?p=3170"},"modified":"2020-05-29T12:50:06","modified_gmt":"2020-05-29T16:50:06","slug":"leave-space-for-the-unknown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juliannedavidow.com\/demonew\/blog\/2020\/05\/29\/leave-space-for-the-unknown\/","title":{"rendered":"Leave Space for the Unknown"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this period, it\u2019s difficult to make any plans for the future, or even to know what \u201cfuture\u201d means anymore.<\/p>\n

Everything has been upended.<\/p>\n

Plans we made have changed or been cancelled; dreams we held onto have been adjusted; the identities we clung to have shifted. We are not who we were, and the people we used to depend on for companionship and emotional support have perhaps become unavailable to us, except by phone or video. We all must do what we can to stay safe and keep our neighbors and others as safe as possible. Therefore, we keep a distance. If we have to go out to work, we keep to ourselves as much as we can.<\/p>\n

This uncertainty and sense of isolation can be a great challenge. However, when you think of it, the certainty we may have felt previously was actually an illusion. There was never any guarantee that things would unfold as we wished, or expected. The usual patterns of our days hid the fact that nothing was really that certain to begin with.<\/p>\n

But now things feel more uncertain than ever, as the fabric of our lives has ruptured and we are faced with the reality that there is no turning back, just moving forward\u2014as always.<\/p>\n

Many may be feeling frustrated and frightened, almost as if what is happening today will be happening every day from now on\u2014that our current state will remain exactly as it is for the rest of our lives. This isn\u2019t true, but it can feel true.<\/p>\n

Other people are rushing to \u2018get back to normal\u2019 and disregarding safeguards.<\/p>\n

Neither concept works.<\/p>\n

The truth is, we just don\u2019t know. But because uncertainty is hard to bear, we want to reach a conclusion. How do we live without knowing and become more comfortable with the unknown?<\/p>\n

We learn to leave space, and we learn to embrace the idea that it\u2019s ok not to know everything.<\/p>\n

Once we accept this idea, there is a certain comfort in it. I don\u2019t have to think, \u201cI\u2019ll always be alone.\u201d Instead, I can say, \u201cI\u2019m alone today, and today I\u2019m OK. I can call someone or take a walk.\u201d<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to say, \u201cI\u2019ll never make enough money again.\u201d You can say, \u201cFor today, I have enough and if I don\u2019t, I will see what I can do about it\u2014today.\u201d<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t have to say, \u201cThings will never change.\u201d We can say, \u201cThings will continue to change in new ways and we will do everything we can to make those changes helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Planning for the future can take over our lives\u2014and make us forget that we are always living in the present. And now we\u2019ve learned that we can\u2019t plan everything and that we must learn to allow space for the unknown\u2014and not only allow it, but embrace it, and rest in it.<\/p>\n

In the B\u00f6n Buddhist tradition it is said that our true nature is spacious and unbounded. Look for th\"\"<\/a>e inner spaciousness that is always present, and become an observer, and then leave space for life to unfold.<\/p>\n

\u2018’Depending on external things for our happiness (is) a strategy that is doomed to eventual failure. When you experience awareness of inner spaciousness, you feel complete in the moment\u2026connected as you are and where you are.\u201d<\/em>–Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche,\u00a0Awakening the Luminous Mind<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this period, it\u2019s difficult to make any plans for the future, or even to know what \u201cfuture\u201d means anymore. Everything has been upended. Plans we made have changed or been cancelled; dreams we held onto have been adjusted; the identities we clung to have shifted. We are not who we were, and the people […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"0","ocean_second_sidebar":"0","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"0","ocean_custom_header_template":"0","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"0","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"off","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[166,129,155,108,89,1],"tags":[7,14,249],"class_list":["post-3170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-acceptance","category-awareness","category-change","category-focus","category-resiience","category-uncategorized","tag-focus","tag-insights","tag-uncertainty","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juliannedavidow.com\/demonew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/juliannedavidow.com\/demonew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/juliannedavidow.com\/demonew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juliannedavidow.com\/demonew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juliannedavidow.com\/demonew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3170"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/juliannedavidow.com\/demonew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3172,"href":"https:\/\/juliannedavidow.com\/demonew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3170\/revisions\/3172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juliannedavidow.com\/demonew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juliannedavidow.com\/demonew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juliannedavidow.com\/demonew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}