I had two experiences last week that made me once again aware that there is good and bad in everything, things I like and don’t like about most things. This picture, for example, was taken last month at a stunningly beautiful spot on the Oregon coast where I was stuck in my car for two hours because the road was inexplicably closed. Gorgeous and horrible!
A friend recommended a meditation about living in the present moment, and I loved it, found it very relaxing and also evocative, allowing for a peaceful letting go experience. However, it also had moments of being weird. Meditations often have weird moments. The guide’s voices usually have that trope softness that’s weird. They often say something weird like “your mouth is just dry enough without being too dry.” What is that? But I’ve learned to ignore that stuff and take from a given meditation what it has to offer.
My sister recommended a podcast from Oprah’s Supersoul Conversations, which had amazing moments and some rolling eye moments. There were a lot of background “amens” and “halleluiahs” which kind of make me cringe. There were also some comments Bishop T.D. Jakes made that rubbed me the wrong way and started to irritate me. But as I continued listening, he expanded on those ideas, went in a different direction, and/or made a different point than I initially expected. He is trying to empower people, encouraging us to believe in ourselves and our potential, rather than saying that we are to blame for our problems (even though it does kind of sound like that in moments).
Both of these audio experiences were helpful and healing and inspiring for me. The takeaway is that they both made me feel good, yet they weren’t 100% that. I wanted to recommend them to my kids and my friends but also recognized their shortcomings, so I hesitated to do that. But now I’m recommending them to all of you because I think that despite the shortcomings, there’s a lot worthwhile there. And that’s a great life lesson. There can be a lot of good enfolded in an imperfect meditation, podcast, book, movie, person, experience. Allow and overlook the flaws so you don’t miss out on some really good nuggets of wisdom, inspiration or enjoyment. Here are the links. Let me know what you think!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2OEvS9Hjnc
https://omny.fm/shows/oprah-s-supersoul-conversations/transform-your-life-with-bishop-t-d-jakes