Many people struggle with the idea of being “done.” “I just want to be done” is something I’ve heard, thought, and said repeatedly in my life, saying it as recently as last Tuesday!
In psychological or spiritual terms, done could be seen as “fully integrated,” having “all personal issues resolved” or even “being fully enlightened.” Within these thought constructs is the idea that at some point we no longer need to learn and grow or make an effort, and as a result, we no longer need to feel stressed by the effort.
While it’s true that there is a part of us that is always just Being, and always registering everything that arises in Awareness, that is not all there is to us. There is also the aspect of Becoming, or continuing to learn, grow, and change (hopefully for the better!).
In Hindu mythological terms (as I understand them), I think of Being as the god Shiva, and Becoming as the goddess Shakti. Shiva is pure consciousness, unmoved by anything in the manifest world, while aware of all of it. Shakti is energy and form in constant motion: doing, growing, becoming, and sustaining things.
The Awareness part of me is quite certain that it is and always has been complete. The Becoming part of me has often wished to be done but, faced with a flat, sterile life of ‘nothing to do,’ continues to yearn for growth and change and improvement. It’s enjoyable if I don’t see it as a ‘stressor’ and something that has to be done if life is to be ‘complete.’ As far as I can tell, life is never ‘complete.’ It’s always moving.
Spring, being a time of new life and new growth, is a perfect time for me (and you) to look at what wants to become. In my own life, that means learning a new healing form, one that also promises new levels of spiritual awakening. So far, I’m impressed by what I’m learning. When I’ve ‘vetted’ it sufficiently, I’ll let you know what it’s called.
By the end of this calendar year, I may even be able to offer some of these healing services to clients. In the meantime, as with all things new, it’s: practice, practice, practice. If I reel in my tendency to have to ‘do it perfectly,’ it doesn’t even need to ‘stress me out.’ As I remember someone saying, ‘anything worth doing is even worth doing badly (at first).’
I hope that you also find a way to balance the Being and Becoming in your own lives. What new activities are you resisting, because you don’t want to feel the ‘fear of the new’ and the challenge of starting out feeling inept and progressing to adept? If you tolerate and eventually accept the discomfort of that progression, you can move through it and do something new in your life, or even many new things. I hope you’ll enjoy the energy of Spring, of Becoming, and of doing and learning new things.