Self-attunement is about listening inward, without losing the ability to stay present with others. Self-absorption, on the other hand, is a loop of over-focusing on oneself—which can lead to behaviors like distraction, defensiveness, interpreting, assuming, and judging. Both are common human experiences. However, one brings connection. The other builds walls.
Hope and realism aren’t opposites. I’m learning to carry them side by side.
I’m also learning that expansion and contraction will be part of my life from now on (and it always was, but I didn’t pay as much attention to it).
“This is so hard. Please help me get through this. Please get me to the other side. But please… can I just get a break?”
The message I got, surprisingly clear, was: ‘Fight through your writing.’ And suddenly, I felt better.
For the first time in 15 months, I’ve been able to meditate again—something I haven’t been able to do since delivering Barney.
Today the results came back. Worst case scenario: I am experiencing severe kidney rejection. But here’s the thing: my doctors are optimistic. They caught this early.