Recently, someone who works at Sounds True asked me if I would be her “buddy” in an experiment. She is getting married in June,and she has historically been a nail-biter. She wants her finger nails to look beautiful and elegant when she reaches out her hand and her husband-to-be places the ring on her wedding finger (perhaps you can see the photograph of this moment in your mind?). Her question to me: Would I stop biting my finger nails (I have been an engaged nail-biter since childhood….it’s all coming out here on the ST blog site) as a way to support her in this goal?
At first I thought, forget it. I have never been successful at stopping biting my nails for very long and why should I bother with this. And then I thought, I love this person. And she almost never asks of anything of me. And she is getting MARRIED after all. I have to say “Yes” without giving this another thought. So I quickly took the leap and agreed.
Now here is the interesting thing: It has been almost a month since we made this agreement, and so far, I have been supremely vigilant in upholding my word (one small nail was ripped off, but otherwise I am ready to scratch anything with 9 long nails). Why is this approach working? Obviously, it’s not because I care about having good looking nails (since I haven’t for decades). It’s because I care about this person. I feel inspired by my love of her and my desire to support her in any way that I can. And beyond that, her goal matched a goal that I have that has been lingering under the surface.
And this has made me think about all of the support groups that exist for all kinds of things (from Weight Watchers to AA), and the tremendous power of creating a resolve not on our own but in relationship with another person. This is such an OBVIOUS point, but I have never seen this so clearly before. And as the Publisher of a company dedicated to transformation, I am asking some new questions: How can we help the Sounds True community link up (“buddy up”) with people who share similar transformational goals? Perhaps we could create “practice partnerships” where people check in with each other on a daily basis for a period of time in order to follow through on a commitment to a specific spiritual discipline? What type of vulnerability does it take to reach out and ask for support and how can we encourage people to do this? What other areas of my life do I want to “buddy up” with someone (whether that be a friend or coach) to achieve certain outcomes?
And at another level, I am reflecting on how much we simply need each other to grow and change. How another person’s love and presence can inspire us to stretch and do something differently, perhaps something we have always wanted to do but just didn’t have enough forward-motion on our own. And how this is the power of being accompanied and is something readily available we can offer and receive from each other.
And to take this even further, there are certain Sounds True authors who I feel are “accompanying” me on the spiritual path. Some of them might suspect they are playing that type of role in my life, others probably have no idea. These people are inner “touchstones” — their life and work inspires me to continue with my own life and work. Occasionally, during a difficult moment, I invoke their name or their face, and I feel heartened. And since this is all happening in the inner chambers of the heart, it is very possible that we don’t know who is feeling “accompanied” by our life, who is deriving strength and perseverance and follow-through from invoking our name and presence. I feel so grateful for all of the writers and teachers, past and present, who I draw on as “buddies”. It sounds trite to say “we need each other” and it is not strong enough language. My sense is that we actually exist for each other and because of each other. And the more wildly and passionately and freely we can acknowledge our companionship, the more daring we can be. We become supportive and supported risk-takers. We become fellow travelers on a journey where our love for each other calls us ever-deeper.
What is spiritual awakening? Author, respected energy healer, and medical doctor Ann Marie Chiasson speaks of the journey as waking up to the reality that “we’re all in a flow together.” Rather than perceiving reality through the lens of what we want, we begin to see things as they are, which releases a tremendous amount of energy in our lives. Filmed live at The Wake Up Festival, Dr. Chiasson describes her experience of awakening and its implications in our lives.
We at Sounds True are committed to exploring the many faces and facets of awakening, and would love to hear from you as to your experience and understanding. Perhaps it is the case that there are 7 billion doorways into awakening, one for each human heart.
Many people carry an ongoing sense of self-judgment, pressure, or emotional exhaustion. Radical acceptance offers a different path by encouraging people to meet difficult emotions with awareness, honesty, and compassion instead of resistance.
At Sounds True, we have spent decades sharing transformational teachings from respected spiritual teachers and mindfulness experts, including Tara Brach. Through podcasts, books, and courses, we continue to support emotional healing, presence, and self-compassion.
Here, we discuss Tara Brach’s teachings on radical acceptance, the trance of unworthiness, self acceptance meditation, and the RAIN practice for emotional healing.
Key Takeaways:
Emotional Awareness: Radical acceptance teaches people how to meet fear, shame, and self-judgment with compassion instead of resistance.
Mindfulness Practices: Tara Brach RAIN and self acceptance meditation offer practical tools for working through difficult emotions in daily life.
Healing Through Presence: The article explains how staying present with emotional experiences can support deeper self-compassion and healthier relationships.
What Is Radical Acceptance and Why Does It Matter?
Radical acceptance begins with the willingness to meet life as it is, even when the moment feels uncomfortable, uncertain, or painful. In the teachings of Tara Brach, this practice is not about giving up or pretending suffering does not exist. It is about turning toward experience with honesty and compassion instead of resistance. Many people spend years trying to fix themselves before they feel worthy of rest, connection, or love. Radical acceptance gently interrupts that pattern. It invites people to recognize that healing begins the moment they stop treating themselves as a problem to solve. At Sounds True, we continue sharing these conversations because mindfulness and self-compassion offer a grounded path back to presence. Through meditation, reflection, and emotional awareness, people can begin loosening the grip of fear, shame, and self-judgment.
Tara Brach on the Trance of Unworthiness
Tara Brach often describes emotional suffering through the phrase “trance of unworthiness.” This trance is the persistent feeling that something is wrong with us or that we are falling short of who we should be. Many people carry this belief quietly for years without fully realizing how deeply it shapes their lives.
How the Trance of Unworthiness Takes Hold
The trance of unworthiness often develops through early experiences and messages around achievement, perfection, and belonging. Over time, people may begin measuring their worth through success or approval, leading to self-criticism and emotional disconnection. Tara Brach teaches that awareness is the first step toward healing because it helps people recognize these patterns instead of automatically believing them.
Compassion as a Path Beyond Shame
One of the central teachings in radical acceptance is that shame cannot heal through more shame. Tara Brach encourages people to meet their inner struggles with compassion rather than punishment. This shift may feel unfamiliar at first because many people believe self-criticism keeps them motivated or responsible.
Compassion creates a different kind of transformation. Instead of pushing pain away, people learn to hold difficult emotions with care and honesty. Through mindfulness and reflection, they begin recognizing that fear, insecurity, and sadness are part of the shared human experience. This understanding softens isolation and opens space for healing. Radical acceptance does not ask people to become perfect. It asks them to stop abandoning themselves in moments of difficulty.
How Radical Acceptance Interrupts Self-Judgment
Self-judgment often becomes so familiar that people barely notice it. A mistake, conflict, or moment of anxiety can trigger immediate criticism before there is time to pause and reflect. Radical acceptance helps interrupt this cycle by bringing awareness to the present moment.
Recognizing Patterns of Inner Criticism
Many people assume harsh self-talk will help them improve or avoid failure. In reality, constant judgment creates emotional tension and exhaustion. Tara Brach explains that the mind often searches for flaws because it believes criticism offers protection from rejection or disappointment.
Mindfulness creates space to observe these reactions instead of immediately identifying with them. A person may still experience frustration or fear, but they begin seeing those emotions as temporary experiences rather than permanent truths. This shift helps loosen the emotional grip of self-judgment and creates room for more compassionate responses.
Staying Present With Difficult Emotions
Radical acceptance teaches people to remain present with discomfort instead of resisting it. While this can feel challenging, it often leads to greater emotional freedom. Feelings become easier to navigate when they are acknowledged openly rather than pushed away.
Tara Brach encourages people to approach emotions with curiosity and gentleness. Instead of asking how to eliminate fear or sadness, the practice asks how to stay present with those experiences compassionately. Over time, this builds resilience and trust. People begin learning that vulnerability does not have to be feared or hidden. It can become part of a more honest and connected way of living.
The Role of Self Acceptance Meditation in Emotional Healing
Self acceptance meditation offers a way to reconnect with parts of ourselves that may have been ignored, criticized, or rejected for years. Rather than trying to force calmness or perfection, these practices invite openness toward whatever is present in the moment.
Learning to Sit With Emotional Pain
In many of Tara Brach’s meditations, listeners are guided to gently notice thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations without trying to change them immediately. This practice helps people build the capacity to stay present with difficult emotions such as grief, shame, anger, or fear.
For many people, emotional pain softens when it is acknowledged directly. Meditation creates a quiet space where feelings can be experienced without judgment or avoidance. Instead of becoming overwhelmed by emotion, people learn how to relate to it with patience and care. This process takes time, but it gradually strengthens emotional awareness and inner steadiness.
Returning to Yourself With Compassion
Self acceptance meditation also helps reshape the relationship people have with themselves. Instead of responding to suffering with criticism, they begin responding with kindness and understanding. Tara Brach teaches that healing happens when people stop turning away from their own experience.
This practice does not remove all pain or uncertainty. It changes the way people hold those experiences. Through mindfulness and compassion, many begin feeling less trapped by the pressure to constantly prove their worth. Meditation becomes a way of returning to presence and reconnecting with a deeper sense of wholeness.
Tara Brach RAIN and the Practice of Compassionate Awareness
Tara Brach RAIN is a mindfulness practice designed to help people meet emotional pain with awareness and compassion. The process offers practical steps for staying present during moments of fear, shame, anxiety, or overwhelm.
Recognize what is happening in the present moment by noticing thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations without immediately reacting to them.
Allow the experience to exist just as it is, instead of resisting or suppressing it.
Investigate the emotion with curiosity and kindness to better understand the deeper fear or unmet need beneath it.
Nurture yourself with compassion through supportive words, gentle attention, or physical comfort.
Many people are drawn to the RAIN practice because it offers a grounded way to work with difficult emotions in daily life. Rather than becoming consumed by pain or pushing it away, people learn how to meet themselves with greater patience and care. Tara Brach teaches that compassionate awareness helps reconnect people with their inherent worthiness and capacity for healing.
How the Body Holds Fear, Shame, and Resistance
Tara Brach frequently reminds listeners that emotional suffering is not experienced only through thought. Fear, shame, and resistance also live in the body through tension, contraction, and unease. Many people become disconnected from these sensations because they spend so much time analyzing emotions instead of directly feeling them. Radical acceptance encourages people to return attention to the body with curiosity and gentleness. Through mindful awareness, people often notice that emotions begin shifting naturally when they are acknowledged instead of avoided. The body becomes not only a place where pain is carried, but also a doorway into healing, presence, and emotional release.
Bringing Radical Acceptance Into Everyday Relationships
Relationships often mirror the way people relate to themselves internally. When shame, fear, or self-judgment remain unexamined, those emotions can shape communication and connection with others. Tara Brach teaches that radical acceptance creates healthier relationships because it encourages honesty, compassion, and emotional awareness. People who learn to meet themselves with understanding are often more capable of listening openly during conflict and responding with less defensiveness. Radical acceptance also helps people recognize shared vulnerability. Beneath many emotional reactions is a longing to feel safe, valued, and understood. Meeting those experiences with compassion can deepen trust and emotional connection.
Tara Brach on Awakening Through Presence and Self-Compassion
Throughout her teachings, Tara Brach returns to the idea that presence and self-compassion belong together. Many people spend years searching for healing by trying to become someone different, yet radical acceptance offers another path. Transformation begins through awareness, honesty, and kindness toward ourselves. By slowing down and meeting inner experience with compassion, people reconnect with their natural capacity for wisdom, love, and emotional freedom. Through mindfulness, self acceptance meditation, and the RAIN practice, radical acceptance becomes more than an idea. It becomes a way of living with greater presence, openness, and care for ourselves and the people around us.
Final Thoughts
Radical acceptance is a practice of returning to ourselves with honesty, presence, and compassion. Through teachings like the trance of unworthiness, self acceptance meditation, and the Tara Brach RAIN practice, Tara Brach encourages people to meet difficult emotions with awareness instead of resistance. Over time, this compassionate presence can soften self-judgment, deepen emotional healing, and create a more grounded relationship with ourselves and others.
Frequently Asked Questions About Radical Acceptance
What does radical acceptance mean in simple terms?
Radical acceptance means fully acknowledging reality as it is in the present moment without denying, resisting, or judging it. It encourages emotional honesty and compassionate awareness.
Is radical acceptance the same as giving up?
No. Radical acceptance is not about passivity or approving harmful situations. It is about recognizing reality clearly so people can respond with greater wisdom and emotional balance.
Who is Tara Brach?
Tara Brach is a psychologist, meditation teacher, and author known for her teachings on mindfulness, compassion, emotional healing, and radical acceptance.
What is the purpose of the Tara Brach RAIN method?
The Tara Brach RAIN method helps people work through difficult emotions by guiding them through recognition, acceptance, investigation, and self-compassion.
Can radical acceptance help with anxiety?
Many people use radical acceptance practices to reduce emotional struggle connected to anxiety. Mindfulness and compassionate awareness can help people respond to anxious thoughts with less fear and resistance.
How does self acceptance meditation work?
Self acceptance meditation encourages people to observe thoughts and emotions with kindness instead of judgment. The practice helps build emotional awareness and self-compassion over time.
Why do people resist difficult emotions?
People often resist painful emotions because they fear discomfort, rejection, or vulnerability. Radical acceptance teaches that acknowledging emotions gently can reduce emotional suffering.
Can radical acceptance improve relationships?
Yes. Radical acceptance can support healthier relationships by encouraging honest communication, emotional awareness, patience, and compassion toward ourselves and others.
What is meant by the trance of unworthiness?
The trance of unworthiness is Tara Brach’s term for the deeply conditioned belief that a person is not enough or somehow fundamentally flawed.
Is radical acceptance connected to mindfulness?
Yes. Radical acceptance is closely connected to mindfulness because both practices encourage present-moment awareness, emotional openness, and compassionate observation.
Michelle Cassandra Johnson is an author, activist, spiritual teacher, racial equity consultant, and intuitive healer. She is the author of six books, including Skill in Action and Finding Refuge. Amy Burtaine is a leadership coach and racial equity trainer. With Robin DiAngelo, she is the coauthor of The Facilitator’s Guide for White Affinity Groups. For more, visit https://www.michellecjohnson.com/wisdom-of-the-hive.
The enneagram offers a deeper understanding of personality, emotional patterns, and relationships. Through Russ Hudson’s teachings, the enneagram nine types explained become more than personality labels. They reveal the habits, fears, and motivations that shape everyday life and personal growth.
At Sounds True, we have spent decades sharing transformational teachings that support greater self awareness, presence, and conscious living. Through conversations with teachers like Russ Hudson, we continue to offer guidance for meaningful inner growth.
Below, we’ll look at Russ Hudson’s perspective on the enneagram personality types and how the enneagram can support greater awareness, connection, and personal transformation.
Key Takeaways:
Self Awareness: Learn how the enneagram helps identify unconscious emotional patterns and habitual reactions.
Russ Hudson’s Teachings: Understand Russ Hudson’s perspective on presence, compassion, and personal growth through the enneagram.
The Nine Types: Gain a clearer enneagram types overview and how each type approaches fear, relationships, and motivation.
Why Russ Hudson Says the Enneagram Personality Types Matter for Presence
Many people first encounter the enneagram personality types while searching for answers about relationships, communication, or emotional habits. Russ Hudson teaches that the enneagram offers something deeper than personality analysis alone. He describes the system as a pathway toward greater presence, emotional honesty, and self understanding. Instead of placing people into limiting categories, the enneagram helps reveal the unconscious patterns that shape reactions, fears, and desires.
Through careful observation, people begin to notice the habits that keep them trapped in self criticism, anxiety, avoidance, or emotional reactivity. That awareness creates room for compassion and meaningful growth.
The enneagram also speaks to a universal longing for connection and belonging. Each type reflects a different strategy for seeking love, stability, or recognition. By understanding these patterns, people gain language for experiences they may have struggled to explain before.
Russ Hudson Enneagram Teachings and the Path to Self Awareness
Russ Hudson approaches the enneagram as a living system that deepens through reflection and experience. His teachings encourage people to slow down and notice what is happening beneath their surface reactions and emotional patterns.
The Enneagram as a Tool for Honest Observation
According to Hudson, the enneagram becomes most useful when people approach themselves with curiosity instead of judgment. Every type develops habits that once offered protection but eventually limit emotional freedom and connection. By recognizing these habits, individuals can respond more consciously rather than reacting automatically.
Hudson teaches that lasting growth develops gradually through awareness, not through trying to become a different person. The enneagram supports this process by helping people identify recurring emotional patterns and unconscious motivations.
Self Awareness Creates Room for Change
One of the central themes in Russ Hudson enneagram teachings is that awareness changes the relationship people have with their inner world. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by fear, anger, shame, or anxiety, individuals learn to observe those emotions without becoming consumed by them.
As people strengthen self awareness, they often become more compassionate toward themselves and others. The enneagram encourages reflection on how personal struggles connect to universal human experiences. This understanding can soften defensiveness and create more authentic relationships.
Enneagram Nine Types Explained Through Core Motivations and Patterns
The enneagram nine types explained by Hudson are rooted in motivations that influence behavior, attention, and emotional responses. Each type represents a different way of navigating life while searching for security, connection, or meaning.
Understanding the Core Motivations Behind Each Type
Some types move toward achievement and recognition, while others seek peace, certainty, independence, or emotional depth. Hudson explains that these motivations are not simply preferences. They are deeply ingrained survival strategies developed over many years of experience.
Type Two may focus on helping others to feel needed, while Type Five protects energy through privacy and observation. Recognizing these motivations helps people understand why certain situations feel emotionally charged or difficult to navigate.
Patterns Become More Visible Through Presence
Hudson teaches that emotional patterns become easier to recognize when people practice presence during ordinary moments. The enneagram is not only about analyzing behavior afterward. It also supports awareness in real time.
As people notice how they react under stress, avoid discomfort, or seek approval, they gain greater emotional clarity. This awareness allows individuals to pause before repeating familiar habits. Over time, those pauses can support healthier choices and meaningful personal growth.
An Enneagram Types Overview of Attention, Fear, and Desire
An enneagram types overview often begins with behavior, but Hudson emphasizes the importance of attention. Each type focuses on different concerns, fears, and desires that shape perception and emotional experience.
Attention Shapes the Way People Experience Life
Hudson explains that people rarely notice how selective attention influences their inner world. Certain details feel urgent or emotionally significant depending on type structure. Some individuals focus on possible problems, while others seek harmony, achievement, excitement, or emotional intensity.
By becoming aware of where attention naturally goes, people gain insight into the emotional habits that shape everyday experiences.
Fear and Desire Influence Every Type
Every enneagram type contains a central fear and desire that influences decisions and behavior. A Type Three may fear failure or worthlessness, while a Type Six may fear uncertainty and instability. At the same time, each type also longs for something meaningful, such as peace, competence, connection, or security.
Hudson encourages people to approach these fears gently instead of treating them as flaws. The enneagram creates an opportunity to understand how fear operates beneath the surface and how greater awareness can loosen its influence over daily life.
How the Enneagram Personality Types Shape Relationships and Growth
The enneagram personality types influence communication, conflict, and emotional connection. Russ Hudson teaches that relationships often become mirrors that reveal unconscious habits and defensive patterns. Through reflection, people can better understand how their type affects others and how emotional reactions develop during moments of stress or vulnerability.
Type One may struggle with criticism and perfectionism in relationships.
Type Two often seeks connection through helping and emotional support.
Type Three may focus heavily on achievement and external validation.
Type Four tends to value emotional depth and personal meaning.
Type Five often protects energy through distance and privacy.
Type Six may seek reassurance and stability during uncertainty.
Type Seven often avoids painful emotions through distraction or activity.
Type Eight may express strength to avoid vulnerability or losing control.
Type Nine often seeks harmony while neglecting personal priorities.
Hudson explains that recognizing these tendencies can improve communication and empathy.
Russ Hudson Enneagram Insights on Presence, Compassion, and Inner Work
A consistent message in Russ Hudson enneagram teachings is that inner work begins with presence. Many people spend years trying to change themselves without fully understanding what drives their reactions. Hudson encourages a different approach rooted in observation, compassion, and patience. Rather than fighting uncomfortable emotions, people can learn to stay present with them and listen carefully to what they reveal.
This approach supports a more grounded relationship with growth. Instead of chasing constant self improvement, the enneagram invites people to reconnect with qualities that already exist beneath defensive patterns. Compassion becomes an essential part of the process because shame and harsh self judgment often reinforce the habits people hope to change.
Hudson also emphasizes the importance of awareness in ordinary life. Personal growth does not happen only during meditation, study, or spiritual practice. It also unfolds during conversations, routines, moments of frustration, and experiences of joy.
Using the Enneagram for Self Awareness in Everyday Life
The enneagram for self awareness becomes most meaningful when applied consistently in everyday situations. Hudson teaches that small moments of awareness can gradually transform long standing habits. Pausing during conflict, noticing emotional reactions, or observing patterns of avoidance all create opportunities for greater understanding.
Many people use the enneagram to strengthen relationships, deepen spiritual practice, and improve emotional resilience.
Hudson encourages people to approach the enneagram with humility and openness. The deeper purpose is learning how to live with more awareness, compassion, and presence.
Enneagram Nine Types Explained as Gateways to Personal Growth
Russ Hudson teaches that the enneagram becomes transformative when people use it as a practice of awareness rather than a fixed identity system. The enneagram nine types explained through his perspective invite people to notice how automatic patterns influence thoughts, emotions, relationships, and spiritual connection. Instead of remaining trapped in habitual reactions, individuals can begin creating space for more conscious choices.
This process takes honesty and patience. Growth rarely happens through dramatic breakthroughs alone. More often, it develops through small moments of awareness that gradually shift the way people respond to themselves and others. Hudson reminds listeners that compassion is essential during this process because meaningful transformation cannot grow from shame or harsh self judgment.
The enneagram also encourages people to recognize the humanity shared across all nine types. Every person experiences fear, longing, vulnerability, and the desire for connection. Through presence and self awareness, the enneagram offers support for a more grounded and connected way of living.
Final Thoughts
Russ Hudson’s teachings on the enneagram remind us that personal growth begins with awareness. The enneagram personality types are not meant to confine people to labels but to help illuminate the patterns that shape thoughts, emotions, and relationships. Through greater presence and self observation, the enneagram offers a meaningful path toward compassion, connection, and lasting inner growth.
Frequently Asked Questions About Russ Hudson and the Enneagram
What makes Russ Hudson’s enneagram teachings different?
Russ Hudson emphasizes presence, awareness, and inner observation rather than treating the enneagram as a simple personality quiz. His teachings focus on emotional honesty and conscious growth.
Can the enneagram support spiritual growth?
Yes. Many people use the enneagram as part of spiritual practice because it helps uncover unconscious patterns that affect thoughts, emotions, and relationships.
Is the enneagram based on behavior alone?
No. The enneagram also examines motivations, fears, desires, and patterns of attention that influence behavior beneath the surface.
Why do people identify strongly with certain enneagram types?
People often recognize themselves in a type because the enneagram describes familiar emotional patterns, coping strategies, and inner struggles with surprising accuracy.
How long does it take to understand your enneagram type?
For some people, recognition happens quickly. Others need time for reflection because several types may initially feel familiar. Honest self observation usually brings greater clarity over time.
Can someone relate to more than one enneagram type?
People may see aspects of themselves in several types, but the enneagram teaches that one core type usually shapes a person’s primary motivations and emotional patterns.
How does the enneagram improve communication?
The enneagram helps people understand how different personalities respond to stress, conflict, and emotional needs, which can create more empathy and patience in conversations.
Is the enneagram helpful in relationships?
Yes. Many people use the enneagram to better understand emotional reactions, relationship dynamics, communication styles, and personal boundaries.
Does the enneagram change over time?
A person’s core type remains consistent, but emotional maturity, awareness, and life experiences can influence how that type is expressed.
Why is presence important in enneagram work?
Presence helps people notice automatic reactions before acting on them. This awareness creates opportunities for healthier responses and deeper personal growth.
Michelle Cassandra Johnson is an author, activist, spiritual teacher, racial equity consultant, and intuitive healer. She is the author of six books, including Skill in Action and Finding Refuge. Amy Burtaine is a leadership coach and racial equity trainer. With Robin DiAngelo, she is the coauthor of The Facilitator’s Guide for White Affinity Groups. For more, visit https://www.michellecjohnson.com/wisdom-of-the-hive.
Thank you so much to all of you who have written in (and otherwise sent) your thoughts, prayers, and love to us here at Sounds True, and to all our friends throughout Colorado during this very difficult time. It has been a very trying week for all of us and many here have lost their homes, businesses, towns, and even lives. Like any tragedy, though, it has brought individuals and the community together in new ways, and shown us what is truly important at the end of the day.
Fortunately, the sun was out all day yesterday, and today is also looking sunny and dry. We are praying that the worst is behind. While some of the roads near Sounds True have been damaged quite extensively, we were able to re-open yesterday, and were grateful that most of our employees are doing okay. We are for the most part safe, but many of us are in touch with others who are not faring so well – friends who have lost their homes, have been air vac’d out by the National Guard, cannot find loved ones, and are experiencing great fear and despair. Many dozens are still unaccounted for in Boulder.
Here are some photos to give you a visual sense of how the flood is impacting local communities.
And here is some video footage of Longmont, a town just next to Boulder where a number of our employees live.
Finally, a rather shocking amateur video of the flood as it moves through Boulder Canyon.
If you’re interested in helping via making a donation, information may be found here.
Thank you again for thinking of us and we join you in sending our thoughts, love, and prayers to our brothers and sisters throughout the state as we move through this very challenging time.
Will you hold another who has been touched by the darkness within? Will you love them enough to allow them to fall apart in your arms? To unravel, to become unglued, and to feel unbearably lost as the wisdom of their process unfolds? Will you be the space in which they can finally meet the feelings and emotions that have been kept at bay for a lifetime?
To love another in this way you must touch everything that is unresolved within you – all of your own unmet sadness, abandoned shame, discarded grief, and deserted aloneness. You are willing to no longer stay safe on the sidelines. You are willing to get messy. Even gooey and drippy.
Will you set aside your need for the other to change, to be different, to be “cured,” to be transformed, and to be healed? Will you resist the temptation to talk them out of their embodied experience, to tell them everything will be okay, and to dishonor the creativity hidden inside the unwanted? Will you allow your heart to break with them, and endure the urge inside you to put it all back together again? Will you fall into the unknown with them, holding them close, and provide a home for their brokenness?
To care about others, yourself, and the world in this way you must stay radically embodied. You are no longer interested in transcending suffering, confusion, and neurosis, for you see these as thundering expressions of the path itself. Please don’t turn away. As your attention moves out into the conceptual world, return to the wild intelligence of your body, for it is there that love is working behind the scenes, giving birth to its sweet activity in this dimension.
It is in this factory of love, which is operating as the temple of your own body, where the sacred world is revealing its essential secrets of healing: there is no “other,” there has never been an “other,” and there could never be an “other.” There is only the reflection of your own being.
Love is taking the pieces of your heart and is using them to re-assemble the world in front of you, each as an invitation sent to reveal to you the preciousness of what is really happening here.
