exposing yourself

Something I learned to do years ago was to expose myself to the elements. Feel them in all their intensity! Experience them in all their fullness. Like this man walking in the cool rain in the darkness of night, I allow myself the entire experience. Actually, this attitude toward the elements was inspired by a story I read about Krishnamurti. An artist named Beatrice Wood talk with Krishnamurti about her jealousy. His response was something like...

All right, we're all jealous. Don't try not to be jealous. Drop it, and go on to another thought.

The idea the importance of facing life and the activity of the mind... its distractions, its pain, its joys and its jealousy... and just let it go. Stillness will come. So when I'm in the middle of some oncoming element, I experience it to the full. I let it come. I do not deny it. I acknowledge it with respect. But then I let it pass through. I let it go. And the stillness after the storm does come. It really does.