All this “work” is too much work – The Work of Byron Katie with Grace

Still 6 spots for Breitenbush Retreat in luscious Oregon June 21-25 where you truly, deeply unplug and cleanse. Cleanse physically with spectacular vegetarian organic meals, dark quiet nights of rest, the old growth forest air, mineral springs for soaking.

And…the mental cleansing: The Work of Byron Katie. Question your thinking, declare peace. To read about it visit here. A brilliant opening to summer.

Following on the heals of Breitenbush…the northwest gathering of Being With Byron Katie July 8-11. This is a beautiful “silent” retreat with live video streamed sessions of Katie as she works with a live audience all the way from Switzerland (technically time delayed for us by 9 hours). We are silent in between all viewing sessions.

I’ve rented a house on Capitol Hill with four bedrooms for those who need/want to stay overnight. All those attending, including commuters, will share the house and lovely kitchen and gathering room during the day in complete silence.

The neighborhood is exquisite old Seattle Roanoke Park, lovely for walks and reflection in between sessions with Katie. For information about the schedule and reserving a room (fees have been updated to pass savings on to all participants for overnight stays) please visit HERE. A very sacred time, and incredibly inexpensive for being with Byron Katie. (24 credits for ITW candidates). Another certified facilitator who is attending also has space to sleep in her home for a very modest fee, just ask.

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It’s funny that the way this whole doing-the-work thing has unrolled for me is summer is the biggest season of doing The Work actively, with others. Retreats, Summer Camp for The Mind telesessions, preparing for Year of Inquiry in September.

I didn’t plan it that way.

Summer is supposed to be the time-off and vacation season, right?

School’s out for kids, it’s always a lighter quarter for universities, people go camping. It’s simply easier to be outdoors, the sun stays up longer, the doors are open, at least in my area of the world.

An idea floated across this mind here that I should have mapped this schedule out so I could indeed have more “time off” in the summer. Haha, as if I could have planned or mapped out any of it.

Honestly…I could hardly believe for a moment it was true.

The best time off I’ve ever been granted, is from the results of The Work.

Which means, you actually have to work, first. You don’t know for how long, how often, what topics (although it becomes more and more clear) and what you’ll bump into along the way.

But it will be “work”. And it’s an inside job, with help from friends and guides and reality along the way.

If you look up the definition of “work” in the dictionary, most people might think….how can I do as little of this as possible?

Work = labor, slog, drudgery, exertion, effort, toil, service, function, operate, run.

There’s an idea about the all-summer-all-the-time place that if only I could get there in my mind, all would be extremely well.

Do I really have to work to get there? But it’s so HARD!

But you can question the flickers of what you imagine would be better than here, now.

I want the easy way
I want this to work, immediately (yesterday)
I can’t do it
I’ll never stop suffering
I can’t get there fast enough
it’s too hard

Can you absolutely know there’s another easier option? Or that it shouldn’t be hard?

The other day I was talking with a friend about money. He said he would be so thrilled to win the lottery and then he’d do x, y, z (he had an amazing list, including opening an orphanage).

Funny how we always want a big splash KABOOM change, insight, acknowledgement, break, gift. Not that there’s anything wrong with any of these (they are of course awesome).

But how do I know I’m not supposed to have it? I don’t have it.

How do I react when I believe my own “work” should be different, or go faster, or not be so hard, or bring revelations and summer-mind NOW?

Frustrated, confused, resentful, irritated, even sad. Unwilling to sit down with pen and paper and keep looking at one issue or situation I’ve felt hurt by. Mad at the way things are set up here in this world. Why do I have to suffer? I don’t WANT to do any work! Jeez!

Who would I be without this thought that I don’t want to work, roll up my sleeves, sit down with pen, paper and a friend if I need it, hold still, wait for answers? Who would I be without the belief I can’t do this work, and that it takes the time it takes…and that it’s not always easy?

Oh. Huh.

You mean this is not up to me? I can’t force anything along? Or give up in frustration? Or fight? Or Not Play at all?

Wow.

Awareness, peace, quiet, freedom….it’s just sitting here, and I can notice it along the way, along the path of “work”.

I also notice there’s no other option. As Byron Katie says “you either believe your thoughts, or you question them.” I notice there is no third option not to have the thoughts at all. I keep finding this to be true.

Turning the thought around: I DO have to work to get there, and it’s good, even awesome, that I have to show up and participate. Yes.

I want the hard way, I want whatever way it is
I want this to work at exactly the time it works, no sooner, no later….just right for my own enlightenment
I can do it
I’ll always stop suffering
I can’t get there slow enough
it’s too easy

Holy moly, every one of these turnarounds is just as true, and even break-out-laughing funny.

I notice when something is really amazing and big and takes energy and focus, it’s incredibly rewarding and satisfying. I feel “in” it, involved, helping to create, a part of the great whole.

I notice when I sit down and do The Work, slowly, and connect with myself (and with another person always helps me personally) I always come out with some insight or greater clarity, and my suffering or repetitive thinking always diminishes.

I’ve experienced a deep slowness on one person, one incident, has brought magnificent lightness.

I used to think all the time, when I first encountered The Work “it can’t be this simple” and my attitude was always that something’s missing, I can’t, I don’t know, I’m not enough. It’s never been true every time I sit down and actually DO The Work.

Finally, I really do want this to come at the time that’s just right for me. When I first went to the School for The Work, I was so discombobulated and shaken, I was giddy with energy. I slept 4 hours a night. I went from terrified to thrilled. I didn’t feel that peaceful, let’s put it that way.

I had no idea where my life was going, but I knew everything from then on would be entirely and completely different. It has been.

I now notice that the wild ride has never been quite so wild and crazy again. Something began to settle down, rest, sleep well and longer. I didn’t want to completely “lose” my mind…I wanted it to go slowly, steadily, in a simple healing way.

I am so grateful I have not been on a roller coaster ride of mind-blowing insights. When something disturbs me, I look. It takes the perfect amount of time it takes. No sooner, no quicker.

Good that it’s slow, when it is. I can trust Reality to be supporting me with just what I can handle, even when I think I can’t handle it. Sometimes, there is fear rising up, and heart beating, and then I know to sit and wonder about it all….followed by action.

Do The Work internally with my thinking, do the work physically with the body, with my voice, however it shows up.

I am definitely not in charge.

“The darkness, the void, the space that the mind is terrified to enter, is the beginning of all life. It’s the womb of being. Fall in love with it, and when you do, it will immediately be taken from you, as you witness the birth of light. The Tao doesn’t take sides. It embraces both the darkness and the light. They’re equal….How do you know you’re supposed to be in pain? Because that’s what’s happening. To live without a stressful story, to be a lover of what is, even in pain–that’s heaven.” ~ Byron Katie in 1000 Names For Joy

If you’d like to join me in some beautiful, and perhaps astonishing “work” this summer….I can’t wait.

Even those of you very far away, we’ve got Summer Camp for The Mind coming for daily telesessions (come to one, or all) for 7 weeks, by donation.

Thank you for being with me here in The Work of Byron Katie, no matter what style it takes, or what shape it forms. I am so grateful to have you on this journey of working, movement, action, sharing, and transformation.

Much love,

Grace