My self-help journey is one of priveledge… of suffering silently as I sit among my trappings and belongings. The human experience will always bring suffering, it is no respector of men or title or social economics or personality… in fact, sometimes these things get in the way because as we travel the world and share stories, even without the awareness of ‘becoming’, we can see that often times, in the parts of the world that possess the least in terms of social ecomonics or power or importance – they suffer less. They experience greater happiness, easily accessing gratitude, recognizing the miracles and wonders of creation as they live leaning into their faith.
It’s kind of ironic, once basic human needs of food, water, shelter, health and community are met, and assuming there is an absence of trauma and abuse; the amount you possess is probably in equal proportion to your experience of emotional suffering. Having more than you need rarely brings about anything truly beneficial. Think about it, when you have a single set of fingernail clippers – you always know where they are, and you can always find them. But the moment we have multiple pairs, we never have them in the moment we need them… so in some way, we suffer.
In any case, I have a lot to be grateful for and been brought up in priveledge, not wealth persay, but priveledge… in sunny California, Ed and I grew up and raised our kids in warm weather and water – with a pool, minutes from a boat dock, and always near the ocean! We have enjoyed hosting and gathering friends, family and community for as long as I can remember!
Ed and I always joked ‘You know what’s better than having a pool or owning a boat or living in a beach house?’, ‘Having a friend who does!’ Haha! Because if you had a friend with a boat, you were able to partake on the regular, but you didn’t have any of the responsibility of owning it. Because having a pool, owning a boat and living at the beach comes with a price… there is the literal price of purchase, but also the price of stewardship and hosting; accommodating food, fuel, toys, maintenance, storage and all teh fee’s for lisence, insurance, HOAs, dock, parking and admission fees – not to mention the labor in planning, prepping andcleaning before and after each use… And since the only return on these investments is utility – it has to be used to be worth the cost of owning it!