Dignity

Show Notes

What would it be like for you to freak out with dignity? Inhabit wisdom alongside confusion? Be totally committed while welcoming spacious curiosity?

In this brief embodied inquiry, we'll explore your relationship to dignity and related concepts. You'll have an opportunity to notice the unspoken rules shaping your inner lexicon, play with paradox, and explore ambiguity.  

What is Open to What Is?

This isn’t the podcast I was supposed to create.

I had something polished and impressive in mind.

This is more interesting.

You should listen to it.

A bit of background:
I’d already committed to publishing a daily podcast when I got (very, very, very) sick with Long (very, very, very long) COVID.

So, I had a choice:
I could give up, or I could keep my commitment and include my constant exhaustion, fever, foggy-brain, relentless cough —and do my best.

I chose the latter.

My “best” varies quite a bit according to how well or poorly I feel on a given day.

The episodes are raw, out of order, unedited, with uneven audio quality, You’ll often hear my Pekingese, Bija barking in the background.

Sometimes I talk to myself, sometimes I talk to you. Sometimes I have no idea who I’m talking to. It’s a true potpourri.

And it’s not just overhearing me wax poetic through a stuffy nose about new insights and the insufferable discomfort of upended plans. There’s more!

In between the fragments of thought, feeling, and utter nonsense, is a timely and universal story about expectations, meaning making, dropping all agendas, and discovering what’s possible when we Open to What Is.

Tune in.
Sample a few episodes.

See if you can drop all expectations and allow yourself to be surprised and delighted by something you didn’t know you were looking for.

So, today I'm going to talk about dignity.

What does the word dignity mean to you? When you think of when you think of someone that you know that has dignity or that has no dignity who comes to mind?

Imagine claiming dignity, inhabiting dignity, just for a moment. Really inhabit your own dignity fully right now. See if that changes anything in your body. Like what does it mean to really sit in resonance with your source of dignity? To take a dignified posture? What does that look like and feel like for you? Is that different than your normal way of sitting or standing or walking? Or is it the same?

When do you feel like you are behaving when are you your most dignified in your life? Are there any moments that come to mind when you think yeah, I showed up as a person with dignity?

When you think of leadership, do you think all leaders are equally dignified? Why or why not? Is power the same as dignity? Can you have dignity without power? Power without dignity? How about wisdom? Is wisdom part of dignity?

For me, the word really conjures up a sense of respect. Respect for self, respect for others, and a sense of personal authorship. So power over myself, but not over others. Not needing to hold or claim any sense of dominion over others. Fully claiming responsibility, and and holding honor and respect, for myself. Honor is another word that is related to dignity in my mind.

You know I love talking about paradox and holding the tension of opposites. So, do you think it's possible to freak out with dignity? To just get super overwhelmed and anxious? What might that look like? what might that feel like? What would the inner conversation be? And how might that be a different inner conversation then stripping oneself of dignity when freaking out? I'm taking here of blame, shame, self judgment...

And again not to make ourselves bad or wrong for doing any of that, but noticing what does that do to our sense of fundamental confidence in our own capacity, in our own trustworthiness, and our own self respect?

We can think about wisdom: what comes up if you imagine feeling confused, and also in touch with your wisdom? Do you think that's possible or are those things fundamentally incompatible?

What bout commitment and the kind of steadfastness of commitment the unwavering dedication of real commitment? The clarity of commitment? If you imagine bringing full curiosity to total commitment what image, or feeling, or thought arises?

Obviously, there are no answers no right or wrong here. It's just noticing.

I'm gonna leave it with that for this one. We'll see on the next one.

Keep playing with those ideas. See how they come alive in you.