And you should, as the core of it all, let go of expectations for your Deities. Let go of what you’ve consumed from the books, let go of authorities, let go of explanations, let go of the neatness – and embrace chaos. Embrace the wilderness which is in itself God, call a name and wait for an answer. What voice sounds like home?
Gods will come multifaceted, iridescent, impalpable. Gods will break rules and expand where a mind burdened by expectations can’t follow. A chimera of a myriad faces might not want to always show only one side. Gods will change. Gods will surprise.
If the nature is untamed, so are its Deities. The wilderness has many names for each of them, a prism to choose a side of feeling over explaining, embracing over conforming, preparing over expecting.
~~~
Though I’ve been doing this thing for –what now? fourteen years? – I still need this sort of succinct reminder at times.
Lately, I’ve been having some medical issues that cause me some pain, so as you might imagine, I haven’t been sleeping as well as I would like.
So, there I was, early this morning, feeling tired and a little miserable, and suddenly, my brain was overcome with an odd ear worm.
I honestly don’t know what could have triggered me to start thinking about this song as I lay there in the dark, silent house.
It wasn’t even a song that I liked – and even worse, I didn’t even know who sang it – but I couldn’t get this song to stop looping it through my head endlessly
At first, it was just the bright little lazy melody, and then I recalled some words:
And I will admit that it has been quite a while since I have had such a weird instance of pandoramancy.
But there you have it.
And once I found out who sang ‘Up on the Roof’ – it led me down a little bit of a nostalgic rabbit hole, which caused me to reach a few connections in my head.
It’s true that I have been able to relate to that message, as this old world *has* been getting me down, and I have been feeling a little emotionally overwhelmed lately.
While it was never one of my favorite songs, it was definitely one of my dad’s favorite songs…
He used to sing it out loud, often while he did yardwork, or while driving, and therefore, it definitely is a song that I could associate with my dad.
Sometimes, my dad would sigh heavily and then joke that he needed to get away, you know, I need to get up on the roof or something...but honestly, I never made that connection as to why he would say that he needed to get up on the roof after a hard day of working construction. (Which, ironically, sometimes required him to be up on a roof all day, working, so you can imagine why I would wonder, ‘why? Does he want to go back to work? 🤔 )
You see, my dad could be kind of a misanthrope, or even a curmudgeon, and yet, thinking it over, I realized suddenly that the song wasn’t so much about the singer being a misanthrope as much as it could be some gentle advice about taking a break when you’re feeling overwhelmed…
And you know what? Thinking on it, I realized that this past Sunday marked 17 years since my father passed away.
~~~
As well, this weird little circle-back thought occurred to me too, which recalled Rumi:
So, as you may know, I have been working on a ‘Keeping it 100 Project’ wherein I am trying to be more open about my life and practice these past few months – um, years! – and I’m pleased to say that it’s been going well enough.
And just as it had been with my ‘joy project’ – the world will open up to receive your joy – I have realized that people have been nothing but encouraging and supportive of me in this one of my latest endeavors.
As well, I’ve learned that I’ve nothing to lose except my fears.
This is not to say that I’ve become entirely fearless as of yet, but I am making great strides in letting go of some pretty heavy baggage associated with some of my most deeply embedded personal issues.
So, the other night, I was talking with a close friend of mine about the latest developments in my life and the positive changes that I have seen in my relationships.
Then we got to discussing some of the similarities inherent in our spiritual experiences, and she was expressing her wonder and joy at how nice it was to *finally* have someone (as well as several other people) with whom she can share her experiences. Folks who would listen with an open mind, without judgment or rancor towards her struggles and who could celebrate the successes of walking her path.
Our paths are similar enough but rather than feeling a sense of competition or comparison with me or with others, she was casting about for a word to describe the supportive and encouraging sense of being accepted, supported and celebrated that she had been experiencing lately, that sense of flow between her and the members of her kindred.
She was saying that she finally felt that she’d found the members of her tribe.
And she felt the relief of finally being able to say
So I was telling her about a conceptual term that I had first learned of through polyamory(1) – and that is the concept of compersion.
Compersion can simply be defined as when you experience happiness when you witness another’s happiness.
While the term ‘compersion’ was originally meant to apply to situations associated exclusively with romantic relationships, in some cases, I think that sense of such deeply felt goodwill and supportive encouragement can also be applied to other relationships.
Why should compersion only be felt between lovers?
Why couldn’t such a profound sense of joy be mirrored between those within close friendships and even alliances between co-workers?
Compersion is not just superficial good wishes towards another’s success – it is a profoundly experienced sense of joy and contentment that is felt in tandem with another’s joy.
Compersion is a magnification of joy that flows outward.
Compersion is, in a lot of ways, the polar opposite of jealousy.
So we are feeling compersion when we bear witness to another’s joy, and we feel joy in response.
So that’s what I’m calling it from now on.
Spiritual compersion.
___
pol·y·am·o·ry: noun; the philosophy or state of being in love or romantically involved with more than one person at the same time.
bloodteethandflame 