Chapter 53: In the World but Not of It

It is time once again to Stew on this! I intend to be informed more by my heart. I am going to call it being heartformed.

As a chiropractor for most of my adult life, I have not felt as though I was part of the status quo in this world for many years. The Covid years shone a bright spotlight on the divide between me and the world and also widened it considerably.

Before that, I may not have fit in but still felt essentially safe being in world.

That has changed these past five or six years. Things have eased a bit in the last couple of years, but I still feel more anxious, mystified and isolated than during any other time in my life. I often find the world to be - well, let us just say, unrecognizable.

Indeed, the things that seem to matter most to the world seem to matter less and less to me, and the things that matter most to me seem to matter less and less to the world.

The world seems to keep moving more into its head as I move more into my heart.

I feel caught in middle between a desire to isolate and an equally strong desire to connect with people and to engage in what is still good, beautiful and true in the world.

Speaking of isolating, Hillary is currently reading a book, a true story about a guy in Maine who hid from the world and had zero interaction with another human for twenty-seven years. He successfully disengaged from the world – except for the fact that he repeatedly stole things from people’s homes in order to do it. It took a LONG time, but he was eventually caught and arrested. He spent seven months in prison.

Though his story is fascinating, and he has become a cult figure, I am pretty sure I will not be going that route.

So, I am thinking that my best strategy is to follow some advice that comes from a paraphrase of a Jesus quote in the Bible: to be in the world but not of the world.

For me, this means to bring as much of my spiritual “beingness” to my human “doingness.” To bring as much of the Life I AM to the life I have.

It means to navigate the world and all its trappings and obligations while bringing my heart to my head. It means to not CONFORM to the world but to TRANSFORM myself through the renewal of my mind.

Mostly it means to let my head be the co-pilot but to never let it fly solo without the captain – my heart.

To transform literally means to go beyond the form, the material, the mundane. It means to be in the world but not of it! And to transform, I choose to engage in life with my heart open and coherent so I can base my choices on my spiritual values, principles and priorities,

While I am at it, I intend to look far less often for safety, guidance, answers or clarity through being INFORMED by the world. Especially by overdosing on the news. Instead, I intend to be informed more by my heart.

I am going to call it being heartformed.

Being informed by the world makes it challenging for me to find peace, clarity or safety. On the other hand, it makes it much easier for me to feel muddled or confused or fragmented or in fear.

Being informed by the world sends me directly into my head, where I soon find myself stewing on problems and juggling all my doubts, my judgments, my need to be right, my stuff from the past, and my worries about the future. I get all caught up in a chorus of useless questions such as, “what are they thinking, what does it all mean, why is it happening, what is going to happen,” etc.

This is all reason enough to be informed by my heart instead!

Kahlil Gibran wrote, “Faith is an oasis in the heart which can never be reached by the caravan of thinking.” He could have said the same thing about clarity, guidance, answers and safety!

I know that Innate Intelligence is no more in my heart than in my head. Innate is the totality of my being and is everywhere. But my experience of Innate and my access to all Its infinite qualities are more easily found when my heart is engaged.

Perhaps only then!

When my heart is engaged in some regenerative state of consciousness such as appreciation, joy or compassion, I gain access to the higher centers of my brain. I can then make clearer and more creative choices that match my deepest intentions and values.

Without a coherent heart, I can only access those parts of my brain that deal with old emotional reactions. And being informed by the world (the co-pilot) just pours gasoline on those reactions and lights a match.

So, when I most need clarity or a sense of safety, I will not find them in my head, even though that will still often be the first place I look!

Finding my heart OFTEN is the best practice I know of to help me live in peace and clarity; to be in the world but not of it.

I have a lot of company in this belief. Poets and mystics have advocated it through the millennia. Just about every faith tradition I know of sings the heart’s praises.

For example, from Jesus: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” In the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Hindu gospel, Krishna says: “I am the ultimate consciousness situated within the heart of all living entities, and I am the beginning, the middle and the end as well of all living entities.” In Taoism, there is the concept of the “Original Spirit”, our spark of divine, and it lives in the heart. In Islam, Allah favors the heart over all other parts of the body, because it is the place of faith, and faith is the most valuable thing a human possesses.

I write about “finding my heart,” but my heart is not that hard to find when I am looking for it. To make it even easier to find, I intend to go there often.

I know I can indeed go there more often. Starting right now. I choose not to wait until I am triggered again to practice, especially since that strategy is not going to work. As Dr. Sid Williams used to say, “It’s hard to remember your mission is to drain the swamp when you’re up to your tush in alligators.”

The more I practice, the easier it will be to remember my mission, even in the presence of alligators!

With enough practice, I will be able to find my heart and all its treasures by taking one breath into it. Even when I get triggered.

With one breath, I can become aware of my inner wholeness, strengths and resources, that everyone’s needs can be met, and that it is more important to me to be clear and foster a connection than it is to be right. With one breath, I can choose the clearest actions (and words) based on my deepest values and intentions.

With one breath, I can keep my attention on my intention to be in the world but not of it.

With so much mental overload and strangeness in the world, I am choosing to “come apart” more often to engage my heart in love, peace and joy. I am choosing to spend more time on the island of peace in my soul. I am choosing to give my mind a rest from being the captain, and to give it more glimpses of that which is always good, beautiful and true.

So, when I invariably return to the world, I can be less of it.

Stew on that, and I will see you next time.

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