Mindfulness & Polarities: Creative Possibilities

[one_third][/one_third][two_third_last]Dive into the life activating forces of polarity work as John Kesler, renowned mindfulness expert, guides us through the pole of clarity & confusion, and how holding both of these can give rise to creative and experimental possibility.


CREATIVE POSSIBILITY

If we are present in the moment it can create new possibilities.

A primary polarity for holding this sense of abundance is “clarity/confusion” If we are present to what is arising we can be clearer about the reality before us instead of being immersed in a narrative based on our biases grounded in experiences of the past and/or in fears of the future. Related to this is that we have greater clarity by not being in denial and accepting what is before us.

We should also face the reality that any mental framing we have of what is arising has to some extent inevitably been constructed by our minds. If we realize this we may be thrown into confusion. Or on occasion we experience confusion in any event because we have no sense of what is going on. Such confusion is a gift, though, because we are freed from the unconscious limitations of our own faculties.[/two_third_last]

[two_third]The challenge is learning not to swing dramatically from clarity to confusion and back again. It is optimal when we can lightly hold the interplay of perceiving with our latest framing capacities as things arise from moment to moment and also noticing that any act of framing is limited in its grasp. In this way we live in an endless series of moments of clarity/confusion.
Buddhists call this “beginner’s mind”. Having beginner’s mind implies the courage to look at everything with fresh eyes with minimum bias, to have the integrity to be responsible for what is arising but humble enough to realize that we must stay open to the possibilities of every moment. This can gives each moment an element of surprise and delight.

When our awareness can access a stillness underlying this free flowing dance of clarity/confusion, another phenomenon happens. That stillness is an opening to our deepest wisdom and compassion, which transcends the thinking mind. This is also a place of abundance giving rise to hope, possibility and experimentation.

Because of this opening to something deeper beyond the everyday conceptual mind, we are also more prone to be open to inspiration. In this moment there is an opportunity for the emergence of creativity and with others, co-creativity.

All this depends on being present and being aware of these basic universal dynamics of consciousness. [/two_third][one_third_last][/one_third_last]