THE MIRACLE IS LOOKING AT YOU IN THE MIRROR
The value of not-knowing...
We don’t have to wait for miracles. They are already here. When I think about many of the trauma survivors I have known and all that they have overcome—I am certain that they are all already that. How it is that many humans survive their traumas, and then go out in the world to build lives and humanifest their dreams is nothing short of a miracle. That they find the faith and the energy to push forward, a miracle. That they excavate and actualize their callings, gifts, and offerings… a miracle. That they do better than the generation before, a miracle. This week, think about the miracle that is you, and the other human miracles that you encounter in your daily life. Give it all the attention (and intention) it deserves. We often look beyond our humanness for evidence of the Divine-in-action, and there (s)he is, staring at us in the mirror. Miracles with arms and legs and beating hearts somehow finding a way to grow on. What a thing. Seriously, what a thing.
Speaking of creative miracles, my latest book is for sale: HUMANIFESTATIONS: ON TRAUMA, TRUTH AND TRANSFORMATION Every time I get a book completed, I am blown away. Not simply because it takes so much work to get it done, but because it was near impossible to imagine any kind of meaningful achievement in the childhood I endured. Getting through a day without an obstacle was a miracle. A book, not even within the realm of possibility. Because of this, I am particularly touched by those authors who choose to endorse my work. It gives that little part of me that is still riddled with self-doubt a reality check. Miracles, indeed…
"When Jeff Brown dares to speak truth about our spiritual lives, the curtain that's been covering the wizard comes tumbling down and we recognize that it's just a dude with his fingers on the controls of our souls and we are emboldened to take back our sovereignty and lament and praise with the whole of our authentic broken open hearts. This little book is a loose thread. Pull it." —Mirabai Starr, author of Caravan of No Despair and Wild Mercy;
"Jeff's writing cuts through the gauzy veils of mainstream spirituality. He's an iconoclast by nature, overturning new age tropes with refreshing honesty, but never at the expense of tenderness." —Toko-pa Turner, bestselling author of Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home;
Here’s how we described Humanifestations when we put the book together: In his fifth book of well-loved quotes, Jeff Brown shares more of his words of courageous and heartfelt wisdom with us. At a time when our world is fractured by polarized views and where abuse of power plagues our interpersonal landscape, Humanifestations provides a grounded and compassionate blueprint for individual and collective transformation. In his fiercely honest style, Jeff speaks to the challenges of living our truth in this world, and supports our efforts to heal. Humanifestations is a revolution of truthspeak that will ignite your power and awaken your magnificence. This potent pocket-book-that-packs-a-punch will prepare you to humanifest the life you were born for.
DEVELOPING YOUR NOT KNOWING MUSCLE
We live in a world that is obsessed with knowing. Knowing who we are, knowing why we are here, knowing which opinion is the right one. Yet we seldom have the time, space, patience, energy, and focus to really know much of anything. And this has only gotten worse in the overstimulating and fast-paced world we live in. The instantaneous nature of the digiphrenic age is designed to overwhelm and distract us to such an extent that it is almost biologically impossible to sit still and take a deeper look at what is happening within us and the world-at-large. If we want to survive, we need answers and we need them fast. Because the next image—and superficial vision of possibility—is coming through quicker than we can integrate it. And so we end up lost on the pathways of knowing.
We are seeing so much of this in the public response to the events in Gaza. Rather than slowing down and exploring the complex context that sources the conflict, people are racing to a polarized position that doesn’t even begin to capture the nuances at its heart. And who can blame them? Overwhelmed by a rapid-fire of manipulated optics, with no time in their lives to research much of anything, the easiest solution is to have an opinion and take a stand. And yet, the tendency to superficialize inquiry ensures that no informed solution will ever be reached. You can’t change the story until you know the story that preceded it. We really need to get a clear sense of what every side has experienced, before we can come to meaningful conclusions about directionality. And to do that, we have to grant ourselves permission to sit in the not knowing and inform it with real-time wisdom. Will we?