What are You Glueing Your "Ok-ness" to?

“In my love I let go.” This has become one of my favorite mantras to repeat to myself as I am experiencing the pain and anguish that change and loss inevitably draw forth. Vairagya is one of the pillars that yoga deems a necessity on our journey towards experiencing the divine within. Vairagya is non-attachment to the presence or absence of something. 

Non-attachment gets a bad rap, unfairly labeled as cold, uncaring, sterile, and disassociated. When in fact, it is the most loving act one could bestow upon oneself, a goal, an object, or another human. For when I make my car, my income, my political party, or my relationship a place to stick myself to, like glue, I gum up the very thing I am trying to honor and the only one to benefit is Elmer. 

So what at first appears as callous and hard turns out to be kind and soft. To carelessly cast away joy onto the fish that I have yet to catch would be to dismiss the fun in choosing my fishing pole, the delight of floating atop magical ocean waters, the feeling of my feet dangling in and out of silky smooth water, the smallness of existing under a vast net of blue sky decorated with white powdery puffs, the warmth of sister sun, shine her rays down upon my face, and the taste of fresh papaya juice with a hint of lime. 

It would be down right negligent to ignore all of life’s phenomenal gifts for a fish you may or may not catch. And sure, the fish might be tasty, but it’s inevitable that we will very soon be hungry again, and here we go, off to the races of who can stockpile the most fish in the shortest amount of time regardless of what horrific method might be used to do so. When amassing fish becomes more important than the joy of fishing itself, you can bet your bottom dollar that sneaky Elmer has attached himself back into your psyche and has glued your nose shut from the stink of rotting fish and pasted your eyes wide unto visions of false successes that exist only in the uncatchable fish of which there will always be, more, bigger, shinier, and tastier fish advertised as the the BOGO that is sure to be your key to happy.

So, you can choose to rot in a pile of fish or you can go fishing on a fantastical boat in a land that delivers more than our fantasies ever could. In our love we can open our hearts so big and so wide that to fully feel it, is way more than enough. We don’t have to own it, or capture it, or hide it under our pillows, we get to be it, breathe it, and free it to blow in the wind as a blessing to all that is, for it comes from the divine, overflowing, well that is not separate from us, but is us. 

Each week brings me new and palpable gratitude for you, and the time you take to read this and contemplate yoga philosophy and how you can observe it in your daily life. It is always my intention to offer you what I have found resonate in my own life, in effort to encourage exploration and clarity in yours. May we all feel ourselves as the very expression of love itself. 

Blessings and Namaste,

Andrea Dawn