Dana, I really enjoyed reading this article. You have always searched for truths and your lifelong journey has brought you joy and sadness, but one thing remains the same: the quest.
I have found that claiming lineage and respecting lineage has been super freeing to me in many ways. I am also a believer in the individuality of our lineages. Far from the traps of fanaticism that unfortunately we still see in those who desperately try to hold onto a _ particular _ teacher or lineage something much more in line with the respect and love for "those who have come before", those who have stayed open and continued with over (at least one) lifetime of persistent and intelligent inquiry.
There are many! And there are also many pretenders...as I know you know so well. :)
Thank you for your kind words and for sharing, Patty. I love hearing that claiming and respecting lineage has been freeing for you. And that’s really interesting, to consider the individuality of our lineages. Have you written anything on that? I’d like to read it. :)
I often think about writing about the importance of lineage and how we can trace our own...I love my teachers so much! All of them. To me they are a single strand - a lineage of wisdom. and I always know that whatever I offer has its seeds deep in these teachers and their teachers...and so forth.
Love the title. Sometimes I use the phrase “discipline from the inside out.” How to make friends with constraint, and realize that it can be for our benefit. Look forward to reading this one!
This is a beautifully written deep understanding. Thank you for expressing it. I wish you all the best in this journey as it is an unfolding . With this awareness, I imagine you are an empath returning to wholeness.
Yet another gorgeous, thoughtful and generous piece of writing, thank you for sharing it, Dana!
I really feel you on craving depth, and a dedicated container. I am coming towards the end of a qualification I've been undertaking and the process has really helped me recognise how much I benefit from structure and guidance as a way of going deeper than I would have otherwise. And more than anything else I am craving quiet right now. My tolerance for noise online and off has been slipping for a long time but is now almost non-existent, and that's leading to a lot of questions about what that means for how I live now and in the future. So, as ever - no answers but lots of parallel questions! And being very grateful for beacons like you modelling such beautiful integrity, exploration and self-trust. Wishing you all good things as you navigate this next threshold!
Thank you so much, Jae! And oh my gosh, do I hear you about craving quiet and having almost non-existent noise tolerance. Me too - online and off. I suspect part of the noise anxiety I experience offline is amplified by spending time online - it seems to be the case, and the whole of me is longing for nature sounds and a rest from machine noise.
Very grateful for connections like you, though! As much as I vent about onlineness, I feel truly lucky for the beautiful people and conversations being online has opened up in my life. Sending you blessings for much quiet and serenity in this next phase. ❤️
I completely understand this desire. Speaking personally, when this desire isn’t showing itself in my actions, I find it valuable to investigate what stops me from diving in. Yes, there is always some resistance based in fear. But I often also find other things—diving in means leaving some things behind. And maybe those are things I shouldn’t leave behind. To be spiritually cliche about it, the true guru lies within. What is the guru within saying to me? Good luck!!
Thanks, Dan! That’s true for me, too - part of my resistance has to do with the trade-offs, and there are things I left behind before that I’m not sure would be best to leave behind now.
Again, speaking personally, I've found that the old ways I pursued knowledge and growth aren't quite right for me anymore. Not saying this is true for you too. I honestly have no idea. I'm not even 100% sure it's right for me. But I think it is.
I can so relate, Dana! I find that I flow best in a container of some sort. Lately, I’ve chosen the container of Slowing Down. When this is my devotion, it automatically reduces the choices available to me. I can run ever decision through the question; will this ultimately (cuz sometimes busy now leads to deeper rest later) going to support my mission? I like being the authority that decides the parameters of my container. Otherwise I tend to rebel.
I'm right there with you on craving intensive studies. Funny enough, I just sent off a petition letter a couple days ago to the University I applied to. I'm still not sure I'd go if accepted (similar to the postscript feelings you shared, among some other values things) but it feels good knowing I'm keeping it open as an option.
Oh, very exciting, Kaitlyn! Even if that particular path doesn’t end up being the one, I love how you’re opening the doors and windows of possibility. ❤️
Oh I like to go deep, always. I’m learning I do not enjoy time in the shallow end. Wading there feels superficial to me.
All this to say, you’re speaking my language. 🙃
I am a seeker. I love to be fully immersed in new learning. I feel this bubbling up, a kind of nostalgia, as I watch my firstborn get ready to begin college. Looking over his course selections, that younger version of me is so wishing she could do this again. Have another go at focused study. I keep scratching that itch wondering what is making me so nostalgic or wishful for “a do over”? Longing for some kind of sequel.
It’s an interesting place to sit. I appreciate this essay for you are helping me scratch that itch (in a good way!)
I thought this one might be aligned with your sort of learning and immersion, Allison. Your pull to go deep shines through so beautifully in your writing… and in how you show up, generally, in this space.
Whenever I vent about onlineness, another part of me is conscious of just how grateful I am for kindred connections and real conversations here - including with you!
Oh man, I’d be so envious, looking over your son’s course selections. Honestly, they could be in just about any subject, and I’d be curious to sit in. That said, there’s something special about sequels embarked upon with the expansive perspective of years and experience. 😊
Sending blessings for the here and now… and whatever awaits. 🫶
I love this piece Dana. You are inspiring me to also wonder what I want to commit myself to. I'm reminded of a favourite quote from a senior yoga teacher when I did my training - 'dig one hole a thousand feet deep instead of a thousand holes a foot deep'. I'm looking forward to hearing what unfolds for you.
Thank you so much, Vicki. And what a great quote! I’m trying to imagine what the world would be like if that approach were encouraged and the norm.
I’m also trying to remember the language you used about getting older and (I think) entering our forest-dwelling years. Could you link to that post here? ❤️
Love this Dana and wish you peace in your search for deep learning. The process is the key 🔑.
This is going to sound trite to non-devotees, but golf is this for me. Since my sobriety opened up many years ago, I flailed away in shallow futility, thinking more was better. Now there’s a zen to my process and it has transformed into less is more which ironically in golf means scoring less. 🤷🏻♂️
Thanks so much, Dee. And while I know next to nothing about golf, I totally get that - and too funny about the scoring, like a wink from the universe. 😉
I felt like this back in 2005, I decided I needed a teacher, I’d been going to meditation groups for many years, often Buddhist, but never wanted to become a ‘thing’, then one day in my 30’s I sat meditating feeling quite blissed out and thought, there’s something not right about this. I went all over the place that year looking for a teacher, I knew I’d feel it in my bones if it was right. But just didn’t find that. The next year I gave up that idea. The next year, 2007, I decided to join another meditation group, down the end of my road, and there, in that room I felt it in my bones. It wasn’t a person, but I knew this was it. It was a Tibetan Buddhist group, I took refuge a few months later and have had exactly what you talk of ever since. It’s been quite a journey, student teacher journey of learning, and what I felt in my bones was the lineage, and I have learnt and changed so much over the past 18 years, and yet I am still so very much at the beginning. And, it still gives me all you write of 🙏🏽
I’m getting chills (the good kind) reading this, Lucy. I have a sense that what I feel most drawn towards right now isn’t going back for another degree... it’s probably much more akin to what you describe here. Thank you so much for sharing. ❤️
Looking at that photo, dear Dana, makes me wonder: ARE YOU EVEN HUMAN??? Evidently, I, myself, am only a stick-figure, a condition I hardly noticed till I saw that image of you...xo
Dana, I really enjoyed reading this article. You have always searched for truths and your lifelong journey has brought you joy and sadness, but one thing remains the same: the quest.
Love you!
How beautiful!!!!
Thank you, Mom! Love you! ❤️
This is great, Dana. Thank you.
I have found that claiming lineage and respecting lineage has been super freeing to me in many ways. I am also a believer in the individuality of our lineages. Far from the traps of fanaticism that unfortunately we still see in those who desperately try to hold onto a _ particular _ teacher or lineage something much more in line with the respect and love for "those who have come before", those who have stayed open and continued with over (at least one) lifetime of persistent and intelligent inquiry.
There are many! And there are also many pretenders...as I know you know so well. :)
I really do love reading your work.
xoxo, Patty
Thank you for your kind words and for sharing, Patty. I love hearing that claiming and respecting lineage has been freeing for you. And that’s really interesting, to consider the individuality of our lineages. Have you written anything on that? I’d like to read it. :)
Thank you so much for being here! xoxo
I often think about writing about the importance of lineage and how we can trace our own...I love my teachers so much! All of them. To me they are a single strand - a lineage of wisdom. and I always know that whatever I offer has its seeds deep in these teachers and their teachers...and so forth.
Hugs to you.
Beautiful, Patty. And deeply resonant. I’m conscious of, and profoundly grateful for, the teachers in my life every single day.
Hugs to you! ❤️
Love the title. Sometimes I use the phrase “discipline from the inside out.” How to make friends with constraint, and realize that it can be for our benefit. Look forward to reading this one!
Thank you, Maia. And that’s such a great phrase - gives me more to think about.
This is a beautifully written deep understanding. Thank you for expressing it. I wish you all the best in this journey as it is an unfolding . With this awareness, I imagine you are an empath returning to wholeness.
You’re so welcome! Brava!
Thank you for being here and for your generous words, Justine. Wishing you abundant blessings.
Yet another gorgeous, thoughtful and generous piece of writing, thank you for sharing it, Dana!
I really feel you on craving depth, and a dedicated container. I am coming towards the end of a qualification I've been undertaking and the process has really helped me recognise how much I benefit from structure and guidance as a way of going deeper than I would have otherwise. And more than anything else I am craving quiet right now. My tolerance for noise online and off has been slipping for a long time but is now almost non-existent, and that's leading to a lot of questions about what that means for how I live now and in the future. So, as ever - no answers but lots of parallel questions! And being very grateful for beacons like you modelling such beautiful integrity, exploration and self-trust. Wishing you all good things as you navigate this next threshold!
Thank you so much, Jae! And oh my gosh, do I hear you about craving quiet and having almost non-existent noise tolerance. Me too - online and off. I suspect part of the noise anxiety I experience offline is amplified by spending time online - it seems to be the case, and the whole of me is longing for nature sounds and a rest from machine noise.
Very grateful for connections like you, though! As much as I vent about onlineness, I feel truly lucky for the beautiful people and conversations being online has opened up in my life. Sending you blessings for much quiet and serenity in this next phase. ❤️
I completely understand this desire. Speaking personally, when this desire isn’t showing itself in my actions, I find it valuable to investigate what stops me from diving in. Yes, there is always some resistance based in fear. But I often also find other things—diving in means leaving some things behind. And maybe those are things I shouldn’t leave behind. To be spiritually cliche about it, the true guru lies within. What is the guru within saying to me? Good luck!!
Thanks, Dan! That’s true for me, too - part of my resistance has to do with the trade-offs, and there are things I left behind before that I’m not sure would be best to leave behind now.
Again, speaking personally, I've found that the old ways I pursued knowledge and growth aren't quite right for me anymore. Not saying this is true for you too. I honestly have no idea. I'm not even 100% sure it's right for me. But I think it is.
It’s an interesting aspect to reflect on...
I can so relate, Dana! I find that I flow best in a container of some sort. Lately, I’ve chosen the container of Slowing Down. When this is my devotion, it automatically reduces the choices available to me. I can run ever decision through the question; will this ultimately (cuz sometimes busy now leads to deeper rest later) going to support my mission? I like being the authority that decides the parameters of my container. Otherwise I tend to rebel.
Thanks so much for sharing, Pamela. I LOVE that: the container of slowing down. Yes!
I'm right there with you on craving intensive studies. Funny enough, I just sent off a petition letter a couple days ago to the University I applied to. I'm still not sure I'd go if accepted (similar to the postscript feelings you shared, among some other values things) but it feels good knowing I'm keeping it open as an option.
Oh, very exciting, Kaitlyn! Even if that particular path doesn’t end up being the one, I love how you’re opening the doors and windows of possibility. ❤️
Oh I like to go deep, always. I’m learning I do not enjoy time in the shallow end. Wading there feels superficial to me.
All this to say, you’re speaking my language. 🙃
I am a seeker. I love to be fully immersed in new learning. I feel this bubbling up, a kind of nostalgia, as I watch my firstborn get ready to begin college. Looking over his course selections, that younger version of me is so wishing she could do this again. Have another go at focused study. I keep scratching that itch wondering what is making me so nostalgic or wishful for “a do over”? Longing for some kind of sequel.
It’s an interesting place to sit. I appreciate this essay for you are helping me scratch that itch (in a good way!)
🫶
I thought this one might be aligned with your sort of learning and immersion, Allison. Your pull to go deep shines through so beautifully in your writing… and in how you show up, generally, in this space.
Whenever I vent about onlineness, another part of me is conscious of just how grateful I am for kindred connections and real conversations here - including with you!
Oh man, I’d be so envious, looking over your son’s course selections. Honestly, they could be in just about any subject, and I’d be curious to sit in. That said, there’s something special about sequels embarked upon with the expansive perspective of years and experience. 😊
Sending blessings for the here and now… and whatever awaits. 🫶
Your writing is so nourishing Dana. Thank you. 🙏🏻
Thanks so much, Josh. I’m grateful you’re here reading. 🙏🏻
I love this piece Dana. You are inspiring me to also wonder what I want to commit myself to. I'm reminded of a favourite quote from a senior yoga teacher when I did my training - 'dig one hole a thousand feet deep instead of a thousand holes a foot deep'. I'm looking forward to hearing what unfolds for you.
Thank you so much, Vicki. And what a great quote! I’m trying to imagine what the world would be like if that approach were encouraged and the norm.
I’m also trying to remember the language you used about getting older and (I think) entering our forest-dwelling years. Could you link to that post here? ❤️
Ah yes, it was in this one: https://drvickiconnop.substack.com/p/on-turning-50 😊
Thank you! I love this one so much.
Love this Dana and wish you peace in your search for deep learning. The process is the key 🔑.
This is going to sound trite to non-devotees, but golf is this for me. Since my sobriety opened up many years ago, I flailed away in shallow futility, thinking more was better. Now there’s a zen to my process and it has transformed into less is more which ironically in golf means scoring less. 🤷🏻♂️
Thanks so much, Dee. And while I know next to nothing about golf, I totally get that - and too funny about the scoring, like a wink from the universe. 😉
I felt like this back in 2005, I decided I needed a teacher, I’d been going to meditation groups for many years, often Buddhist, but never wanted to become a ‘thing’, then one day in my 30’s I sat meditating feeling quite blissed out and thought, there’s something not right about this. I went all over the place that year looking for a teacher, I knew I’d feel it in my bones if it was right. But just didn’t find that. The next year I gave up that idea. The next year, 2007, I decided to join another meditation group, down the end of my road, and there, in that room I felt it in my bones. It wasn’t a person, but I knew this was it. It was a Tibetan Buddhist group, I took refuge a few months later and have had exactly what you talk of ever since. It’s been quite a journey, student teacher journey of learning, and what I felt in my bones was the lineage, and I have learnt and changed so much over the past 18 years, and yet I am still so very much at the beginning. And, it still gives me all you write of 🙏🏽
I’m getting chills (the good kind) reading this, Lucy. I have a sense that what I feel most drawn towards right now isn’t going back for another degree... it’s probably much more akin to what you describe here. Thank you so much for sharing. ❤️
It’s like you pulled words right out of my head. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for being here, Kate. ❤️
Looking at that photo, dear Dana, makes me wonder: ARE YOU EVEN HUMAN??? Evidently, I, myself, am only a stick-figure, a condition I hardly noticed till I saw that image of you...xo
Hahahaha... well actually... 👽🧚🦥
Big hearts to you, Val! xoxo