The soul is covered by a thousand veils
Azurat Imiat Kahn
“Remove the veils so that I might see the truth.”
– Amor Fati (Love Your Fate)
This is my prayer
This is my prayer, not just just for 2020. It began in the last quarter to 2019, but I’m continuing it into this new year as well.
I follow it with:
- “May I be free from bias.” (Preexisting ideas or judgments about myself, life, or others)
- “May I be free of attachment.” (Expectations of others or outcomes outside of my control)
- “May I live in equanimity.” (Balance and contradictions of life)
They are not my original words, but I believe them to be divine gifts given to me through my intentional hunt for inspiration—a daily practice.
The past few years have taught me that I’m such an onion—covered in so many layers (read: facades) for my own protection. I’ve been peeling them back one by one. For a while, I expected to get to the center, the heart and soul of my truest self. I tried my best to expedite the process so that (excuse the continued, obvious metaphor) I could get past the stinkiest layers that continually brought tears to my eyes.
What I’ve learned is that there’s really no arriving, no perfect core where all the work is complete. There’s just another layer, more shedding—so much shedding!
Shedding things like:
- Perfectionism
- People pleasing
- Shame
- Unworthiness
- Fear of failure and rejection and judgment
Shedding one layer simply reveals the one directly beneath it, each one built to conceal the other from being exposed. Removing that veil just exposes the next one that brings into the conscious which was previously concealed.
That is the work—the veil below the veil that I just worked through. I trust that there will be another one under that one too.
Whew!
There is no hacking this process, no expediting the real work. This is not a checklist type of task. This is the point—the very life of life, as the Sanscrit says—peeling it all back, lifting veil after veil, again and again, over and over.
It is difficult.
It is unclear. Few certainties are obvious as I do my work.
By its very nature, it can be messy and mucky and stinky and tear-filled.
But I know now that it’s so worth it, that there is no other way.
Let’s stop trying to hack our lives, my dear friends. Maybe that will be the beginning of truly living them.
May the veils of your life, covering your very soul, be lifted so that you might see, my darlings. May you begin to find peace in living from a place of less bias and less attachment. May you live in equanimity (balance) of all the contradictions of life that make it that much more beautiful—work & rest; joy & sorrow; light & dark; bumpy, windy roads & smooth, straight ones—the very life of life.
And in the midst of it all, may you find much love, friends, today and always!
4 Comments
ExoRank.com
Awesome post! Keep up the great work! 🙂
Debra Emick
Thank you so much for reading and the encouragement!
Carrie
I love this metaphor and found myself using the onion and layers image just the other day….because it is true – the more you peel back, the more you seem to see. Thank you for this reminder!
Debra Emick
Thank you so much for reading, Carrie! Glad to hear the thoughts resonated and you’re finding the same in your own life.
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