Squaring: a meditative/creative practice

I remember when I took a non-fiction writing class many years ago, my instructor gave us this advice when approaching a topic: square it. See how many ideas surface when you square the topic. Examine the different perspectives. Look closely at the different faces of each side of the idea. Embrace what surfaces. Let go of what wants to be left behind.

I sometimes use this idea in my meditations. I will show you how it works briefly. When I actually use it as part of my meditation and/or creative process, it becomes much longer. I won't bore you with excessive details here, but some of you might want the details as part of the process. The details are the places of wisdom. Sometimes, if I find that one question that makes me stop, I stop to consider and move on only when I am ready. Sometimes, I don't get to the six sides because I am taken by an idea or a revelation and I want to wait there.

This whole process lets me see my life as a story with themes. It is a great tool for discernment and a great way to dive deep. It can take the form of whatever you like. Have fun. I would love to hear if anyone finds it useful with writing or as part of a spiritual practice.

Tonight's square: the outside. A square has six sides, so I will allow myself the space to consider six different faces.

1. Monet. I was inspired to think about this idea when I revisited Monet and his paintings with my daughter. Monet practiced outside. The more of Monet's paintings I experienced, the more I was aware of how practicing outside is spiritual. Monet practices outside in two ways. One, he stood outside the tradition (he was a non-conformist) and two, he literally practiced his art outside, co-creating with the elements. What does this say about my non-conformist side and my creative self? How does the natural world help me dive deeper? What is my civilized self longing to release?

2. Cairo. Living in Cairo, one of the world's most populated and dusty cities, was absolutely thrilling. Once I stepped outside my door, my senses woke up. To be an outsider in such a place makes you pay attention.

If I had to say one thing about the gift Cairo gave to me it would be how it made me see, hear, touch, smell, and taste the rawness of humanity. I could see the smog rolling in over the Nile. I could hear the constant car horns beeping at all hours. I could smell trash either rotting or burning. I could taste the grim of leaded fuel on my tongue. These are so unpleasant, and yet, these experiences opened my senses to all that was good: the man chanting the Quran in the alley behind our building, the smell of jasmine at the right time of year, the taste of baladi (local) bananas, experiencing living in season. I was waking up!

In Cairo I found mysticism. In order for me to find that place of mysticism on the inside, I needed to experience the outside: in order to move inward, I moved outward first. This movement reminds me of the inhale and and exhale of my breath. So natural and so connecting to something so much greater than I am.

3. Home education seems to pick up on this outside theme as well. We definitely stand on the outside of the norm that sends children to school. Why do we do it? Intuition? Authenticity? Freedom from so that we have the freedom to? To protect and nurture creativity? More and more I discover how being at home with my children and learning together allows and encourages me to de-school myself. In that process I stand outside in order to go in, the outside in and the inside out. I shed and I put on new layers of learning.

4. The natural world. The natural world is where I feel the closest to God and as I result, I feel the closest to the real me. The outside world of trees, birds, muddy waters, crunching ice, and even the presence of other walkers, stirs my spirit. There is something in the outside that connects me with the creative force, the creative heartbeat.

5. Sabbatical. Recently have taken a sabbatical from my work. I needed the break. I needed to stand outside so that I could really travel far within me to ask the questions I needed to ask so that I could hear my answers. This is crucial. I needed to create a space so that I could hear myself. So, traveling outside (if only for a short while) seems to be a place to hear your own heartbeat, your own passions, your inner knowing. We can get so cluttered by the voices and expectations of others.

6. Experience. I have put away the books for now--on parenting, on the spiritual life, on gardening--not because they are not useful but because I rely on them too much! In order for me to catch the creative flow and feel the inner knowing, I have to give myself the space to experience. I stand outside of the accepted body of knowledge (only for a while) to find my place within it.

Whew! That was a stretch for me tonight as I am tired from an intense day of emotional parenting, but I hope you find it helpful. Happy squaring!