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I am feeling inspired by genius, heart opener, Lisa Olivera who writes Human Stuff on Substack. She recently shared a manifesto of sorts answering her own question: How do I keep going? and prompted the reader to create their own piece of answers to return to. I feel moved to accept this hand outstretched and to follow in her footsteps to answer my own question.
The question I am asking myself is: How do I continue?
How do I continue?
You choose again. Recognize every moment as a fork in the road. Call upon your highest self to guide you when your scared self wants to sit quietly in the background of your life allowing minutes, hours and days to pass her by, begrudgingly. Listen to what she says when she asks you to stretch, to meditate for a bit longer this morning or to cry.
How do I continue?
Prompt yourself towards self partnership and self parenting. Choose to be the best partner you’ve ever had. Choose to be the greatest parent to yourself. Evoke the spirit of both of these parts of yourself to join you at the table and allow them to ask you: What do you need right now? What would make you feel loved, held, supported, uplifted, cared for? And give it to yourself as the partner and or mother to yourself. Sometimes you need to see yourself as the small child in order to nurture the parts of yourself who have been overlooked as an adult in the real world. To remind yourself that without you, there is no greatest love story to recount.
How do I continue?
Dance. Rotate your hips in circles to the left and then right. Close your eyes to listen to the way the music wants to carry you. Be an open channel to Source who speaks through you. Let this intimate moment with yourself and god be considered a win. An accomplishment. A communion with the truest part of yourself.
How do I continue?
Wrap your arms around yourself, in a hug. Rock side to side, remember that you do not need another human in order to feel the nourishment of love, of care. You can give this to yourself, whenever you want, whenever you need. Again and again. When you’re sad, when you’re proud of yourself, when you need affirmation, when you need peace. The small child in you recognizes this as a form of soothing stimulation. You are big enough to give this to yourself now, even though the small part of you lives on.
How do I continue?
Tell the truth to the page. Give your most ugly and scattered pieces a place to land somewhere beyond the thinking mind that runs in circles, chasing its own tail. This allows for the disillusions to see themselves as such. This creates room for the kinds of beliefs that feel good inside of the body, leading you to believe that there is room to grow, that change belongs to you, that this moment is perfect when you quiet the mind enough to notice it.
How do I continue?
Let yourself rest. Stand firmly beside the belief that rest and relaxation are not something to be earned, but rather, something you need because you are alive. Give rest to yourself in large doses, whenever needed. Recognize that the nervous system is a pharmacy for your capacity, resilience and openness to life.
How do I continue?
Look for inspiration everywhere. Look for the opportunity to be moved, to be touched, to believe, to feel connected. Let the minute long interaction with your coworker who shows their humanity in the business of a Friday morning carry you through the rest of the day. How she lets her rawness seep into the day among its own obligations. She bites into the Swedish Kringle that brings immediate tears to her eyes. She advises you, as someone who lost her mother when she was young, to learn your mother’s favorite recipes so that you can recreate and taste them long after she’s gone. Listen. Spend the afternoon thinking about this. Let it be evidence that life is meaningful and precious.
How do I continue?
Cry at the movie theatre, cry while you sing along, cry at the sunrise, cry when you tell them how much they mean to you because this is your inner well and it gives you life to let it overflow freely.
How do I continue?
Listen closely for the humanness in the voice of another, in their story, in their answers, in the inflection of their voice. Let yourself be reminded that you are surrounded by yourself in many different voices and dreams that take form in the body of another. One whom you get to witness through your own individual lens. You wouldn’t know where to draw the line of separation when you get quiet enough to notice them beyond the things that make you ‘different.’
How do I continue?
Take your time, create the space not to rush, remind yourself often that you are worthy of taking your time. Dedicate three hours to waking because slow and steady is where you regain your strength and you must do what you can to remind yourself that you are strong.
How do I continue?
Remind yourself, and often, that you are not what you do or think. You are. I am.
How do I continue?
Notice the beauty that surrounds you and say thank you when you do.
How do I continue?
When you wake up say thank you for this moment, thank you for this day, thank you for this life.
How do I continue?
Invest time in people, things, places, ideas, thoughts, feelings, beliefs, stories, questions, and ideas that inspire you, uplift you, and make you feel good. Recognize that your reality is your world. Fill it with things that you like. You get to be the one who decides what you listen to, who you surround yourself with, and what you dedicate time to. But then remind yourself not to get attached to any of it. To not identify with any of it either, to instead, be the loving witness. And when you forget this, smile.
How do I continue?
Remind yourself that it is not necessary to understand in order to be where you are.
How do I continue?
Tell people what you love about them.
How do I continue?
Send somebody special a gift in the mail. Spend an adequate amount of time thinking about what will go in the box, take your time arranging the items safely. Tell the woman at the post office that it is fragile.
How do I continue?
Meditate. Create space to become aware of your being, the one who notices that you notice.
How do I continue?
Remind yourself that self concept is a tool. It is not an ultimate truth in the same way that your being-ness is an ultimate truth. Remind yourself that while you are in this body, you will think of yourself in a certain way, that it can help you, or hurt you. But no matter what you think, what you think is not who you are. Who you are is the one who notices what you have created as a personality and character, the one who plays the part of Pau in this body during this specific lifetime.
How do I continue?
Let it go. Release the grip. Allow it to fall away. Do this even if it is something that you love, understand that to love something is to let it be as it will be.
How do I continue?
If there is music, and you are able, dance. Turn it up. Forget that you are being perceived, and allow your heart to soar. Liberate yourself in the process.
How do I continue?
Wrap both hands around the mug and get close enough to smell the aroma of the delicious beverage inside. Close your eyes and sip it slowly, like it is your very own religion.
How do I continue?
Write GREAT IDEAS!!! at the top of a piece of paper and meticulously add one and then another and another as they arrive on your tongue and in your throat. Remind yourself that great ideas exist, that they are plentiful, that you know abundance in this way.
How do I continue?
Choose again.
How do I continue?
Read poetry so that you may stumble upon that which touches some part of your being-ness that you have never seen glint in the daylight like that.
How do I continue?
When the uncomfortable emotions rear their ugly head, stop to notice. Become aware of what it is. Give it a name to ensure you don’t confuse it for your Self. Allow it to rise up into your chest, shoulders, face, jaw. Breathe through it. Each exhale dispersing the conclusion of the sentiment. Witness as the emotion pixelates, spreads and then dissolves into distant particles that settle as a soft gray dust. Quiet the mind that wishes to resist it or hold onto it with judgment. Offer it up, aloud. Shoulders back, open up your heart so that you can empty what's left of it into the air around you. It transforms into oxygen or a distant joy, but most immediately, it becomes a peacefulness that sits on your lap.
Take gentle care,
Pau
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