Good morning beloved reader,
I was recently inspired by
’s beautiful Substack post, Autumn reflections, the harvest, and letting go. Not only do I deeply appreciate her writing and exquisite photography, but I also relished her invitation to explore, ‘what is success for you?’ and I love how she frames this exploration with “the current season's themes [in the Northern hemisphere]: the harvest, and letting go.”I resonate with her own multifaceted definition of success:
“Prosperity and a sense of financial security are part of it, but my successful harvest includes, among other things: creativity; learning new skills; exploring new ideas; growing and evolving as a person and artist; feeling calm, content and relaxed; overcoming challenges; living a life aligned with my values; connecting with nature and with other creative souls; visiting interesting places; being surrounded by beauty; spending as much time as possible with my loved ones, human and furry; cultivating healthy friendships; self-acceptance and self-love; daily habits and rituals that help me thrive at all levels.”
I believe the Rising of the Divine Feminine includes allowing oneself the time to define what success is for you. This contrasts the toxic cultural expectations that there is only one “correct” definition of success.
Personally, I resonate with all that
defines as her ‘successful harvest,’ and for me, I would add: an interiority that is peaceful, calm, and equanimous — i.e. the cessation of negative thought chatter. And in addition, success for me includes living my dharma.And another definition of success: I love how Eckhart Tolle says that his greatest achievement this lifetime is to have a mind that is completely still. Silent. No thought chatter.
He talks about how the mind is a tool we can use, but an essential awareness is to not be used by the mind.
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And as for ‘What is Failure?’ I would offer that Failure is something we need to pursue.
“Fail, fail again, and fail better,” the American Buddhist nun, Pema Chodron often says. For it is through failing that we can learn from our mistakes and evolve.
I believe the Rising of the Divine Feminine embraces the notion of failing. And this is so that we may move away from this cultural obsession with winning versus losing. Competition is a natural, normal, and useful human capacity. But we all lose when we’re identified with competing. When we don’t have any spacious awareness around the part of ourselves that loves to compete.
The university I went to in Australia had an innovative School of Medicine where they trained the doctors-to-be to collaborate. They taught them that when they graduated they wouldn’t be competing with each other to save a human life. They would be working together.
Again, this is about awareness of our human capacities; and being able to make a conscious and aware choice about when we may want to compete versus when it may be more beneficial to all, to collaborate.
And I will leave you, my dear reader, on this Sunday morning, with an invitation to contemplate what success and failure may mean to you.
Many blessings to you in your contemplation✨🌟💖🙏🕊️
p.s. in another lovely moment of synchronicity; after writing the above, I clicked on a link to a podcast by
titled: Understanding Psychological Safety. To my surprise and delight, it brought me to her conversation with Amy Edmonson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School called: The Science of Failing Well.Enjoy your Sunday!
Thank you for your kind words Camilla. I'm glad to hear what I wrote about success resonates with you. I love that you expanded my thoughts to include failure and its role in personal growth. "Fail, fail again, fail better" - yes!
I love what you have shared here camilla and what a generous thing to be invited to define our own idea of success. I'm not sure what that is for me I will take some time to reflect on it. My initial thoughts centre around relationships and connections rather than material gains.