The River of Peace

Back in the day before blogs, my regular writing gigs were columns in business publications.  I've never had difficulty writing, once I had a topic, but there have been times that I stared at the computer screen for a while, waiting for inspiration.  I remember encountering a friend who had just finished reading Leading from the Heart on one of those days. 

"Hey!" I said.  "What really stands out to you from the book?" 

Without a hesitation, he responded, "The River of Peace."  We chatted a bit about the topic, and when I headed back to the office and computer, I knew that would be the topic of that week's column. 

In the book, I described what Joseph Campbell called The River of Peace, which flows between the banks of Fear and Desire.  As he described it, we can float through life in peace as long as there is neither anything we fear nor anything we desire enough to leave our place of peace.

Then, as I've drawn on many a flip-chart, I added to The River of Peace, making it The River of Peace, Love, and Joy, those consummate spiritual qualities for which most of us yearn.  As I talk about the banks, I "X" through the word "Desire," because I say that most things that we desire enough to leave The River of Peace are actually driven by fear.  So, I say, The River of Peace, Love, and Joy actually lies between two banks of fear.

Today, I ponder The River of Peace.

After two weeks of furlough, we finally have glimmers of hope that the government may soon be open again.  As I compare my dwindling checking account to the monthly bills that have arrived, part of me is quite joyful.  The fear of not being able to pay my bills and what that might mean clearly underlies the desire to pay my bills.  Far greater are other fears. 

As I've written in this blog, I've reclaimed the woman I had been until recent employment.  I am the creative, the writer, the coach, and the speaker. I am smart and have a sense of humor. I am joyful. I take care of myself.  I love my life.  What I really fear is that the darkness that consumed me so totally that it took nine days of furlough to reclaim my being will eat me alive again.  Having almost birthed an e-book from a hard copy book and germinated at least two new books, I am terrified that my creative self will be subsumed by "Just follow orders!" or "No one asked what you thought."

AND, I want peace, love and joy even more.  I want to embrace my work with the passion and creativity that I brought to it for almost three decades.  I want to jump out of bed, looking forward to helping people work together better. I want to love my colleagues and laugh with them throughout the day. I know that is what awaits me in The River of Peace, Love, and Joy. My spiritual work: stay in the river.  Staying in the river implies staying present...in the present.  That's it!  That's all there is.  :-)  That's all...