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I like to have clean floors. According to Twitter, I’m not the only one! Since it’s Saturday there were pages upon pages of entries with the words “clean floor” in Twitter search today! Weekends are housecleaning time!
Usually, the first chore I do each morning is to sweep the floor, or ask my older son to sweep it. Last night my younger son, 3 years old, decided he wanted some sugar. He grabbed an opened bag of large-grain cane sugar that I carelessly left where he could reach it.
*Stop the presses,* you say, “I thought the Liveonpurpose girl was all about not eating sugar!” Yes, yes, I have preached that in the past, and will in the future. I like to pat myself on the back when I buy the unbleached cane sugar, but it’s only a step up from refined white sugar. The fact is, our family slows to a grinding halt without it. Husband needs sugar and milk in his morning coffee. I take it in my green tea. I use cane sugar or brown sugar to sweeten the children’s oatmeal. Okay, I’m done making excuses, I love sugar. But I have educated myself on what it does to my body and I use it in moderation. There. Done. On with the story.
…carelessly left where he could reach it. Of course, it spilled all over the floor! Despite the efforts of my older son who generously cleaned it up without being asked, I could still feel the grainy sugar under my feet.
I swept some more until I couldn’t see any more grains on the floor, and since it was night, went to prepare for bedtime.
The next morning I awoke and climbed the stairs to behold all the sugar on the floor I couldn’t see the night before. The sunbeams were pointing out the imperfections on the floor for me, so I could easily clean it up. (Allegory, anyone?)
This is a case of ‘as without, so within’, but a little mixed up. 
The light needs to come on in our heart/mind to point out the emotional things that need cleaning up within us. I didn’t kick myself in the rear for not being able to see that sugar the night before. I didn’t chastise my older son for not sweeping all of it when he tried, either. I simply said, “Wow, now I can see well enough to clean this up properly.” The process of self-observation and self-inquiry turns on the light in your heart/mind.
Self-observation is all about developing the watcher in your mind. This watcher simply observes you react to everyday situations. Oftentimes, just the act of watching yourself make decisions or reactions is enough to curb a behavior that doesn’t serve you any more. Sometimes you need to take it a step further and engage in self-inquiry, such as doing The Work of Byron Katie that I mentioned in the previous blog post.
Do you see the image of the floor below? The morning sunbeam is neutral, simply showing me what is there. It isn’t mad that the sugar is on the floor! It’s just a light. This is how you can approach your emotional work, like you’re simply turning on the lights. There may be a mess there that took years to build up, or there may be simply a little spill. In either case you are to be commended for taking action once the lights are on. One step at a time, done with love, will clear the heart for the future.
5 comments
1 ping
Carol King says:
February 21, 2009 at 6:48 pm (UTC -7 )
Hi Jessica
That’s a great example for us to follow. I especially liked what you said about not abusing yourself or chastising your son for not cleaning up all of the mess. It is so easy to get into blaming and finger pointing, if we can just allow ‘what is’ to ‘simply be’ in all areas of our lives, our experience will be so much more peaceful and calm.
Great post.
Jessica says:
February 21, 2009 at 8:04 pm (UTC -7 )
Thank you Carol. It certainly is easy to get into finger pointing, especially in relationship issues.
Allowing what IS to simply BE OKAY is the toughest first step.
Kathy says:
February 24, 2009 at 9:00 am (UTC -7 )
Hi Jessica. This is a great blog…so much I liked about it. I liked that you were honest and upfront about the sugar situation. People sometimes need to hear we don’t need to be perfect (and eat zero sugar) but that we need to educate ourselves and choose wisely.
I like how you turned around the sugar-spilling incident to find the gift in it. And how you pointed out the difference between self-observation and self-inquiry. That was very succinct and helpful.
Jessica says:
February 24, 2009 at 10:36 am (UTC -7 )
Kathy, what a gem you are! Thank you for your kind words.
virsale says:
February 24, 2009 at 3:50 pm (UTC -7 )
Interesting blog, i have bookmarked it for future referrence
TIPs - February 22, 2009 | Your Happiness Power says:
February 22, 2009 at 1:14 am (UTC -7 )
[...] As without, so within? [...]