Stoop Surprises

I believe that we're given everything we need.  This shows up in my life in strange ways.  One of the most common is through a practice in the city, especially in neighborhoods like mine, in which people put things they are done with out on the stoop to give away.  Clothes, kitchen appliances, and boxes of books are frequently sighted.  Personally, I love this practice, and the way it promotes fluidity in the economy of things.  Possessions don't come to us to stay for life, but to serve their purpose and move on to another.

A couple months ago I picked up a book that changed everything for me.  It gave me the keys to unlock the mystery of how to be myself--something which, if you think about, seems ludicrous to have to learn from a book.  But so much of the knowledge in life that we value is really just a collection of bad habits that we have to unlearn later.  I have spent many years perfecting these behaviors, so I'm trying to be patient with myself as I oh so slowly let them go.

I'm leaving in the morning for a large conference with a lot of people. It's the kind of thing that traditionally would send me full-on into Looking Good mode, but not anymore.  My only intention for the trip is this: I am going as myself.  For me, that's meant that aside from a couple shawls (I remembered that excessive air conditioning is really a problem at such events), I haven't bought any clothes.  I'm wearing what I have.  I'm being who I am, and it feels really revolutionary.  In the past, most of my life felt like a costume party and I was always trying to show up in the right part.

For this, and for my life, I'm going as myself.  That's a gem to pick up off the sidewalk in the city, and it's only the beginning.