Once upon a time I considered myself a teacher. No more. In many ways this Work has reduced my job to that of a cheerleader. Life is a process and as such it isn’t as easily fixed as we think it should be or as we’ve been told it is. As a process life is much bigger than this moment, what’s happening to us now. As a process it’s moving no matter how static it may appear. How long does it take, I’ve been asked, to prepare a talk or to write an essay? The easy answer is whatever the mind that asks the question already thinks it is. The truth is annoying to that mind because it doesn’t fit what the mind wants, has already decided that it knows. Because life is a process it takes all my life to the moment of writing the talk or essay. Because life is a process everything is built on whatever preceded it. Whatever the event, circumstance or situation it didn’t just happen. Yes, it happens the only way it can happen. Because life is a process, like a vine. The vine may be very long and cover a great area. It may be difficult to find the roots but they are there, somewhere or else there could be no vine. It’s all connected. You can’t alter one part of it without affecting all the rest of it. Whatever it is that’s happening in your life right now is just the tail of the snake that has already crawled through the hole in the fence. What is now visible is only this moment in the process. Only this part of a string being pulled through a hole or this part of the snake crawling through the hole in the fence. It’s not the whole thing it’s only a section of something much more involved than what is visible in this moment. We forget that.

To look at some part and not see the whole is characteristic of our condition of unawareness of the process that life is. My job, my life, what happens and how I react or respond to it is dictated by my consciousness. Consciousness covers now, the past and the future because it is not limited by time. We are limited by our inability to be fully consciousness of the whole process all together, all at once. It is possible to be more aware than we are now. It is possible to remember parts of the process that aren’t apparent in this present moment. It’s an ability we have because we can develop beyond the animal level. When we remember what isn’t apparent now we remind ourselves of the process. Our perspective changes as our consciousness changes, expands to include more than what we can see right now. We transcend the limitation of time and space by seeing life as a process. When we can remember more we can remind others there is more and thus be cheerleaders, encouragers to those who have temporarily lost the greater perspective that life is a process and there is more to it than meets the eye in this moment. It will change from moment to moment but it won’t change much because it’s part of a process. It’s still going to be a snake or a piece of string crawling or being pulled through a hole in the fence. Same hole in the fence, same string, same snake, just a different part of it.

A broader view gives us a more detached perspective. We have the luxury of being less identified with whatever it is that’s moving through the hole in the fence at this moment. From this can come a degree of peace and the power that comes with it. That power is the clarity of thought and emotion that peace brings. Because life is a process it’s important not to quit in the middle of it. This is where the cheerleader part comes into play. To encourage people through perspective, awareness of the process, to keep on when they can’t see the end in sight. It’s to inspire people to go on when the finish line isn’t in their view because circumstances, lack of awareness or something else has blocked their line of sight. It’s not the ability to change a person’s circumstances but the hope that with a little help in the perspective department they’ll be able to do what they need to do to get the rest of the string through the hole in the fence. Sometimes all they can do is wait. Other times it’s a matter of making some small correction in attitude, perspective, thinking or feeling. We’re all in the game but sometimes we get to cheer for someone else when they can’t see as much of the process as we may be able to see at the moment.