The Nature of Our Patterns

The Nature of Our Patterns

All too often man ignores the wisest command ever given by a sage, the famous “Know Thyself” inscribed in the temple of Delphi.

So much of living a full and happy life is about knowing ourselves, and both the forming and the breaking of patterns is a lifelong learning practice. On the path to higher levels of understanding who we are, our inner work requires us to discern the patterns that are shaping our lives; which ones sustain us and which ones no longer benefit us, and which ones might we want to create. As we delve into what it means to live with patterns, we need look no further than the story of our own lives waiting to unfold. We need to be clear that most often there is a constant tension as we are continuously creating patterns to make sense of our lives and then become aware of those that no longer fit with who we are becoming. The goal is not to eliminate the tension, in fact that is impossible because we are always forming, sustaining and breaking down patterns, always being born again, living and dying in some form. The tension is helpful in revealing the patterns and learning how to hold onto those which sustain life.

Upon examining the nature of our patterns, we need to discern the healthy ones, those that we practice mindfully from the unhealthy ones of our habitual routines. What we can do is practice the art of softening our habitual routines back into mindful and meaningful practices. The rigid, sharp edged ones need to be soften or broken so our hearts can be at peace. This softening and breaking of patterns is not about eliminating our humanness, not about eliminating our want to be loved; it is about curbing the stubborn ways we hurt and disrespect ourselves to get that love. So often we go looking for our self where we are not.

It is not helpful to label our patterns as good or bad and then try to rid ourselves of them. The aim is not to make ourselves pure and one-sided in our aliveness, but to be authentically our self, learning what our strengths and weaknesses are. It’s about learning how to live in the rhythm of being human and to celebrate our self as the magical imperfect vessel of Spirit that we are. We self-realize because the self is the only way through which we can experience life and our place in the world. What actually saves us from our self and our patterns is the power of our own honest gaze. Self-reflection is a tool we can use to cleanse and become our transparent self, the one who feels both aliveness and pain, the self that feels everything that moves us through life.

Life is role playing, we wrote the story and now we need to study the script and do the work of endless rehearsals when our patterns keep revealing themselves to us, learning the lessons we came here to learn. Patterns are like this, until the lesson is learned, they are automatically repeating themselves, often without our even knowing. Every day, we are offered many chances to practice seeing our patterns simply by being in relationship to the many forms of life that feed us, that mirror us and connect us. As with many things that matter in life, we must know ourselves, we must face life despite the countless distraction and obstacles, and our patterns as life is our journey.

Through humility and awe, as we continue our inner work of seeing and transforming our patterns, we find ourselves living a more curious journey, perhaps even a journey back to innocence, back to the beginning. The closer we get to the truth and beauty of who we are, the more truthful and beautiful we become. As we move through the distractions and obstacles, reconfiguring our habitual patterns we become clear vessels and it becomes easier to merge with the rhythm of All that is. It is here where we discover a curious law of inner alchemy; the closer we get to the light, the more fully we become the light and it is in this moment we find out once and for all, who we are. ….Blessings and Love, Christina