Integral

In nowadays it's getting more and more often that the word Integral is out there. People are choosing to eat integral, wear, read, listen integral stuff. You'll hear/read the word Integral in this and that almost as often as we can hear the word "baby" in a song.

... ok, it can mean a bunch of things too. In a sentence, Integral shows up when we want to highlight something that is necessary to make a whole complete; essential or fundamental.

So this thought leads me into asking, how can we also become/feel Integral?

Remember when you were a little brat, with no distinction between what was inside or outside of yourself, when there was absolutely no question about being or not accepted by the world, you were, simple as that. No need to cover up feelings... wholeness, integrity.

But as adults, who really feels integral with the world? Why as we grow up do we learn that it might not be safe to express our true identity, feelings and beliefs.

Everyone has some piece of him/herself that it's hidden from the world, and we do our best to keep it that way. We try to play a role that is acceptable. But that gap, between reality and self perception, usually leads to some pain, some regret, some sadness... We want to show up in the world as our true self, and leave this world feeling successful in that.

The desire to show up, to be more in the world with our true value, our truthness, with our true gifts, a not divided Life, that is fulfillment, and we all know how much better we get to be in society, be it in your work, your family or relationship, when we are free in our mind and spirit.

Again, connection is only possible when we show up in the world as we are, and not as we think others expect us to be.

"The heart is the path to wisdom because it dares to be vulnerable in the presence of power"

― 

Terry Tempest Williams

Let's be Integral in our choices. The world is full of good intentions, but if we don't actually do them, what good are they? We're not here just to be storytellers of other's lives.

Each of us has value. I have value, you have value, the person in front of you has value.

Feel your Heart, for it's really the place to understand what's worth fighting for... We can come up with lots of theories about this or that, but our Heart knows best where we should channel our energy.

Lets be Brave and grow our own capacity to express our deepest humanity, especially in places where it seems unwelcome.

Are we fully present in the world with our Integrity? 

It's not about perfection! It's about showing up "naked", with our natural humanity. Nobody is born with an empty self, but we can end up empty...

I wish there were more safe places for people to express their true selves. There's a voice of truth inside each of us, soulfullness. But we fear. We fear we might get fired, we fear we might lose friends or partners if we show ourselves completely. But we are beings before our "doings" or "status".

We want to be seen, respected, loved. Can you truly say, I Love you?

“Like a wild animal, the soul is tough, resilient, resourceful, savvy, and self-sufficient: it knows how to survive in hard places. I learned about these qualities during my bouts with depression. In that deadly darkness, the faculties I had always depended on collapsed. My intellect was useless; my emotions were dead; my will was impotent; my ego was shattered. But from time to time, deep in the thickets of my inner wilderness, I could sense the presence of something that knew how to stay alive even when the rest of me wanted to die. That something was my tough and tenacious soul.”
― 

Parker J. Palmer