Embracing the Unknown
January 3, 2022
I’m curious – Are there fountains where people throw pennies in gratitude for what they already have instead of wishes for what they think they lack? Are there pools of holy water where you can skinny dip? Can the piano be my partner? If I put on a pair of groovy pants, will I suddenly be fully equipped to exotically dance myself into a trance?
These questions may sound far out, but that’s where the unknown lies — far from the familiar, out in the open field. Not only do questions about the unknown stem from a place of sheer curiosity, but they keep the heart open to exploring the potentiality of immense possibilities.
The common misperception many of us have about the unknown is that it is frightening and thus we avoid it. We are often met with panic when we live without an agenda. Think about the last time you awakened without any plan as to what time you would awaken, what you would eat, what you would do, who you will meet, or what the weather will be like. These thoughts quite literally steer our serenity away from the shore because we are so used to trying to control ourselves based on what we know.
The truth is that to live a fulfilling life full of love, we must learn not to know. We must embrace life's natural ebb and flow and discard the conditioning of the mind to become more humble and wholehearted.
Think about the last time you were getting ready to go on a date with someone new. You probably started scrolling through their social media, making assumptions about them, and answering all the questions you were too nervous to ask your new date because you feared the unknown. Hopefully, this didn’t create such a pent-up hesitation inside of you that you couldn’t show up fully, but if it did perhaps a blind date is in your favor! All jokes aside, it is important to recognize how this yearning to know keeps us living in fear rather than trust.
Before there was togetherness in life, there was nothingness. As we begin to merge our lives with another person, familiarize ourselves with another place, a whole bunch of something’s are created – something to admire, then something to obsess over, then something to desire, then something to control, and eventually, something to deter us from living in communion.
The concept of embracing the Unknown came up in a recent conversation with a friend who so eloquently shared with me that “There is a sense of now-ness in my heart that is telling me to reach for everything and hold onto nothing”. “What’re you holding onto?” I asked. He replied, “I’m going to be very specific – something. It’s always something. But something isn’t always.” This reflects the essence that nothing is permanent and everything is always evolving. Are you radical enough to let life go its own way without the need to control it?
“Change is the only constant in life”
The unknown is by nature, nothingness; It came from nothing, and yet is interconnected to everything. When we embrace the unknown we gain everything. The exciting thing about choosing to live in the unknown is that it challenges our linear nature. Unfortunately, our ego desperately tries to hold onto something(s) because it keeps it safe. It keeps us from throwing off the bowlines, sailing away from the safe harbor, catching the trade winds in our sails, and setting out into the world of wild, boundless imagination.
“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
I have learned that awakening to the unknown daily creates the truest sense of safety. It is safe because it requires trust that the Universe is always conspiring for us, not against us.
Giving ourselves to the unknown is sacred and simple. It is like being in a love affair with the Divine – the love affair that can never turn into something other than what it is because it has no beginning or end. It has no agenda. It was never anything but pure, perfect love.
See if you can make the miraculous choice to go on a date with the unknown. It can be as simple as going out on a walk somewhere you’ve never been before without directions. Or maybe it’s booking a trip to someplace near or far that you know nothing about. Or maybe it’s asking a friend to set you up on a blind date with someone you’ve never met. Whatever you choose, it will be beautiful. Not because I know it will, but because you don’t know.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be at ease and free from suffering.
Prayer of the Day: Dear Divine One, awaken my creative & curious mind so that I may fall in love with the unknown. Aum. Peace. Amen.
