Having left the Buddhist community I visited after Brighton, I went straight to the Lake District mountains to feel free and re-connect with my True Nature, which is Nature itself. Alongside me was a modern-day Amazon cyclist, who reminded me of Eckhart Tolle’s words: «If you want to stop feeling depressed then stop thinking of the past and if you want to stop being anxious, stop thinking of the future». #anxiety #depression #beinginthenow #meditation #flow #productivity

Feeling first humanity’s despair in the war against covid and now the vibrations of the bombs that fall so close to home, I cannot help but wonder, what is the value of me sending aid to help my fellow human beings, if inside of me my old world views and habits are winning the war against my new, more empowering and liberating ways of being? I strongly believe that the war is in reality within us and this needs to be our focus. I keep inviting myself, instead of ‘mulling’ and being stubborn in my old ways of existence, to do some ‘benching’* and directly connect my raw heart, my inner basic goodness with what surrounds me. So, I have decided that for now my own contribution to World Peace will be that I cultivate and maintain peace within me.

Easier said than done of course, because anything that is born fights for its survival and so do these persistent niggly war-loving thought forms in my head. So, I will share with you a little secret, which is none other than the Universe’s natural tendency to restore balance. Once something is removed, the space created by the missing roots is swiftly filled up again. Pulling out the roots of these entrapping beliefs is not enough. The gap needs to be filled either with new empowering beliefs or with ‘Gap’ itself! Alternatively, the space will fill up by the resurrected old beliefs or their ‘relatives’, in a never-ending vicious circle.

Now the ‘Gap’ idea came to me while working in the Art Studio of the Buddhist community, where I was doing a lot of manual labour. This I enjoyed because it was in sharp contrast to all of my past heavily intellectual jobs. Once I mastered the motions, I did however find that my mind kept slipping into the past or the future and negative feelings would arise. So, in an attempt to manage my thoughts, I practised becoming the blade. While I was cutting triangular patterns with a cutting knife, I begun to focus on identifying my existence with the blade, as if it had its own consciousness (maybe it did?!!). I was being the actual blade, instead of the person that used the blade as a tool. I then found out that I could cut straight lines freehand without the aid of a ruler and increase the speed of production. When I noticed getting distracted I decided to challenge myself by using my left hand instead of my right. I synchronised my motion with my breath and it worked! Every time I got distracted, my blade would slip and I would make a real mess of the shape.

I am a life-long learner and in the thousands of teachings that I have had the good fortune to attend instead of the word ‘gap’ some may use the word ‘emptiness’, others the word ‘white space’ or ‘flow’ or ‘connectedness’. For me these are all a matter of semantics, leading to useless mind games. I therefore invite you here to follow me at a much deeper, meaningful level and see whether the next time you are cooking you can become the actual spoon stirring in the food, or the salt that enhances the flavours in your dish or the pen that writes birthday wishes on a card or the car that takes you into work every day or the ladder that you step on to place that box in the loft or the elderly yew tree that has seen so much or better still the person standing opposite you trying to draw your attention by insulting you!

The beauty of the Art of Joy community comes from the sharing that we do, so I will be delighted if you shared your own experience or thoughts on ‘becoming the blade’ in the comments section here below the post. Your voice is as valuable as mine. I sincerely thank you for dedicating your time to read this post and wish you ever increasing days of ‘gaps’.
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I dedicate this post to my two ‘becoming the blade’  beloved Teachers in the Art Studio, Nausicaa and Carlos.

* Two self-invented gerunds: ‘mulling’ = stubbornly not changing our ways and digging in our heels like a mule and ‘benching’ = spending time for deep connecting to the world or for contemplation, just like Eckhart Tolle did for two years of his life.

Alexia Mary (52) – In 2016 I founded www.ArtofJoy.gr with the vision that like-minded people embrace the creation of a model school for Young Leaders that cultivates leadership behaviour and actions with deep rooted compassionate values. An incubator for the empowerment and free experimentation of bright young people, tomorrow’s Active Global Citizens of our Planet.

For those of you who have been following me all these years you will know that more than 4 months ago I left a huge gap in my life, having resigned from my permanent position of fifteen years at the University in Greece, and having left behind all my belongings, I travelled 3500 km with Libby (Liberty), my car to arrive in England. My Soul has been my compass. My journey is not over. After all, my good friends and virtual companions often remind me that it is the journey and not the destination that matters. And they are right and I am deeply grateful to them for walking by my side.

In this journey that I started I will continue to serve through a new “platform” my life’s purpose which has to do with the empowerment of people and I will build on what I have been trained in recent years to do and know well. Through my example, my therapeutic speech and my writing I help those who seek me out to open the doors that will lead them effortlessly into their next step in life. Here you can find out about the sessions I offer and my work:  https://www.artofjoy.gr/en/just-for-you/

email: iris@ArtofJoy.gr

Photos taken in the area of Cumbria, UK.