Hello lovely reader,
I have fallen into a haphazard matter of writing these Letters to you. Without the self imposed structure of daily writing, and at a loss as to whether these Letters have impact or land out into a sea of overwhelmed eyes and minds, I began to write 3-5x a week. The freedom was refreshing. But as with many of the important things in my life, without structure, and discipline, things fall away. So I am committing to a 3x week writing schedule for this time being.
Which also leads me into what I wanted to speak with you about today – our need for structure and discipline so that we may also have freedom and spontaneity. I went through a multi year process of needing enormous structure in my mediation and yoga practices, my rituals and my spiritual sadhana. These days, after 22 years of on again and off again practices and rituals, I am in a place where I move with what I feel I need in each moment, in the days and the weeks as they come. That said, it’s taken a long time to get here and I am very open that this may need to shift and change in the near future for whatever reason it might. As a relatively new writer, of only 6 years of steady writing, I need incredible amounts of structure to get anything done. Like with any discipline, waiting for inspiration to strike, or a sense of wanting, or a level of excitement is a perilous path to achieving absolutely nothing. Doing it even when we don’t want to builds the muscle of that practice, and softens the hardening of the ego, that is constantly trying to drive a wedge between what we could be creating and stagnancy.
So today I want you to take a clear, cold hard look, and a soft, gentle compassionate look, at exactly where you are needing more discipline and structure. It could be meditation, exercise, how you eat, hydrating, taking time off, or applying yourself more. Identify what’s getting in the way and start taking action. Students who pause their practice ALWAYS ask me, when should I get back into it. Right now, immediately, can you sit down and meditate this moment? Or in an hour? They are my responses. Don’t wait, just start. Momentum builds from steady repetition and expands us into more flow.
With love,
Jac x