This is not the first book I have read by Ms. Katie (I have a thing about using honorifics for pretty much.. everyone. I blame it on my mother whom gave me scary looks anytime I forget to preface a name with the appropriate Mrs. or Mr. Good times). I read her first book Loving What Is a few months ago. It was a tough read for me to process simple because I was not quite sure whether I agreed or not with a technique she calls "The Work." In a nut shell, "The Work" is a way of inquiring our own thoughts basically with the goal of finding our own inner peace. Long story short, I realized I do like the book. I would even recommend the book. However, the book is not for everyone. There were many times I was angry and vowed to stop reading the book all together.
So I am now reading her second book, I Need Your Love - Is That True?, for the second time and getting some thoughts on paper (post?) as I go.
First quote that sticks out to me:
"If you're afraid to be alone,
it means you're afraid of your thoughts"
- pg 11-12
This is interesting to me for a couple of reasons. As mentioned, most of Ms. Katie's books center around our thoughts and the ways our thoughts take us out of a state of peace we would otherwise be in (in theory... or reality... whichever you choose to believe).
Now this quote popped out to me because I once had a friend who called me saying that her friend literally could not stand to be alone. Not just alone, as in single, but alone as in by herself. If she was alone for too long she would cry the whole time.
I realize this is her truth. I am no one to judge what a person does or does not do in their alone time. But that was the first time I had heard something like that.
Interestingly enough, I once read one of Deepak Chopa's books (I'm a slightly pseudo-spiritual person..ish) that challenged the reader to engage in an hour of silence while remaining thoughtless. My intial thought was... that's impossible - which became the exact reason I had to do it.
The first 20 minutes... pure torture. Every thought of what I should and could be doing flooded my mind. Once I broke the 30 minute mark, I guess my mind and body realized there was no point in making me feel bad about my idleness. I still had thoughts, but it turned more into daydream-like thoughts. I'd catch myself and attempt to go back into my state of thoughtlessness.
It was pretty cool once I was done (mostly because I was jazzed about overcoming 'the impossible.' I tend to be a pretty unplugged person; no facebook, no twitter, no instagram, terrible texter, basic cable (that I barely watch), and most of my internet time is spent... here. Taking a moment to really 'unplug' felt refreshing.
I realized how living in the world we live in could lead to a lot of "I should be doing this.." type thoughts which tends to only cause discomfort (or what my field would call cognitive dissonance in various degrees). I guess the silence and the unplugged life gives me my form of balance in the world.
Ms. Katie goes on to write:
"If you're fearful, if you crave safety and security, your thoughts
may tell you that love will rescue you...
There is another way to respond to a thought,
and that is to question it."
The last line is the essence of Ms. Katie's writing - to question every thought we have. I dig the idea. I guess that why I am writing about it. I guess everyone has that moment where they go on a quest for inner peace or something like that. Ha.
Let me get out of here.
Be lovely.
Laney
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