Being known is a
gift. It is a basic, yet profound way, of loving and being loved. And let me be
clear here, when I speak of being known I also mean to imply acceptance as
well. There is something in the simple experience of being known that is deeply
nourishing and life altering. It is an unrivaled form of intimacy.
How do we confer
this gift? It seems to me that truly knowing someone else comes about through
presence—our openness, our being right there in the moment with them. Sheer
presence.
Spaces open up
in the mundane, everyday aspects of our lives when we are present this way,
listening with no agenda, simply taking life in—letting the moment be without
either pushing toward nor re-coiling from what is there to be experienced.
There is
something magical about this in my experience, transcendent even.
How do we
receive this gift? We receive it with the same openness by which we confer it
on others—simply being there awake and aware in the moment. But, as with all
simple endeavours this is not necessarily easy to do.
Presence takes
practice. It is something we evolve toward with patience and perseverance.
Some get in the
zone through swimming or other forms of exercise, others knit or crochet and
many take up meditation or keep a journal. There are lots of diverse ways to
practice being here now.
Last, but not
least, the journey toward presence always begins with an inward focus, the
willingness to be present to the life inside us. Yes, we will face many things
we’ve been avoiding confrontation with—buried shame, fear, anger, resentment,
but if we persevere we also encounter our native joy, peace, faith and
contentment as well.
We locate a sense
of wholeness—the sense that the only way to be whole is to recognize the beauty
in our brokenness and choose to live in solidarity with it. At which point we
may further discover that there was never anything fundamentally wrong with us
to begin with.
This most basic
act of presence is the root of all love. Therefore, the gift of knowing and
being known begins and ends with love.
Rock the cosmic
rhythms of your heart. Be the presence you were meant to be in the world.
