Calmness versus Emptiness

“The sea may be calm, but it’s never empty.” — Dr. Who

The mind has many thoughts, and it’s rarely empty. Yet, when it’s able to pause, it can glimpse the emptiness. And a mere glimpse can change you forever.

While this statement has a lyrical quality, it is actually intensely practical. Because that glimpse, that type of experience, should we elect to swallow it, can embed a perspective to measure and live against. It provides an experience that can not only sustain us in the direst of times, but is also capable of inspiring us to overcome the most difficult of our limitations.

Does it always work? No, not for me. But that’s mostly because I have given in to my weaknesses, to my need to wallow in my suffering. But when I refocus my perspective, I have yet to find a situation in which I am incapable of overcoming or improving — even if but a little.

This idea of ‘experience’ is, in my opinion, something that should be more ardently demanded and pursued. I learned this in Jiu Jitsu. Because, in a sense, Jiu Jitsu taught me I wasn’t wrong holding out for the so-called real thing, the real experience. It has never once let me down in that regard.

It is difficult for me to argue against genuine experience — of any sort — being one of the most important things in all of life. Because it brings us to a broader, more seasoned and tolerant understanding of pretty much anything. A higher perspective can only serve us well, if it is based on genuine experience.

Of course, this is simply my own modest opinion.