We like to talk about happiness, connection, and positive experiences. But negative experiences, even if it is merely gloomy weather, or a dull week, or moments of feeling lost at points of change in life, are unavoidable. If life is an art, then negative experiences can be the difference between clutter and masterpieces.
Negative experiences are challenging. They are inviting to our egos. Ego helps in survival. But in other situations, it replaces one problem with another, when there was none in the first place. These experiences are robust learning grounds for the awareness. Can you pay loving attention to the ego trying to come out and take control? Trying to blame. Trying to play victim. Trying to dominate. Trying to run away. Trying to mask the difficult moments by seeking temporary moments of pleasure that will not solve anything (as they are not in the flow).
A true artist can accept being lost with loving attention, and allow moments to take their course. We are talking about the only artist there is. That which we can never be free from. That one thing we are all part of. We can call it the present moment, we can call it the universe, we can call it ‘that’ that can only be pointed to — thatness ‘Tathātā‘ in Sanskrit. Everything is part of that, and playing its role in ‘that’.