To sit within ourselves is to be at home. Our home is full of emotional energy continuously streaming through our body, the structure we rely on for the experience of being human. All we have to do is sit down.
The more you are willing to just let the world be something you’re aware of, the more it will let you be who you are….
Michael Singer (The Untethered Soul)
Michael Singer introduced me to the “seat of self” as he calls the center of consciousness that is within us all. It is from here that the “great mystery begins once you take that seat deep within” (Singer). We become aware of being aware of the world around us, and we do it from the safety and comfort of home.
Peace is available to us in every moment. We don’t have to go anywhere.
Some settings may seem more peaceful than others but I find it quite powerful that peace is always available to me if I will just sit down in the seat with my name on it. Everyone has one. We are all home.
A little over twenty years ago, Willie Baronet began his “We Are All Homeless” campaign. He wanted to ease his own discomfort in seeing homeless people. In doing so, he has provided comfort to thousands of others.
Baronet decided to purchase signs from homeless people, offering anywhere from $10-$20 per sign, but that was not what eased his discomfort nor increased his awareness of himself and the world around him.
The purchase was the way to start a conversation with each homeless person who sold him a sign. The conversations continue as his collection of signs grows. It has become a wall of awareness about homelessness and the human story.
Each sign is a line in the story of the multi-dimensional person who created it. Each sign is a single thread in the tapestry of humanity. The stories run the gamut of what it is to be human, sometimes desperate and other times, simply inspirational.
We all are homeless until we come home. Not all who carry signs believe home is a physical shelter as Baronet discovered. Many are home, living in the peace of an open heart. They are always home whether they reside in subtropical peninsulas, high plains deserts or on city streets.
But do not ask me where I am going,
As I travel in this limitless world,
Where every step I take is my home.
If we can bring ourselves to sit down in the home we always have—our seat of self—and be comfortable with all that we are and are not, we will find ourselves looking through a lens of equanimity and compassion at the world around us.
Oh the stories we will tell, the stories we will hear.
KM Huber's Blog 
Another deeply relevant, insightful post! I love the entire piece, but particularly this: “If we can bring ourselves to sit down in the home we always have—our seat of self—and be comfortable with all that we are and are not, we will find ourselves looking through a lens of equanimity and compassion at the world around us.” Thank you, Karen.
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Thanks so much, August! As you know, compassion comes from within and for ourselves and only then can we look on the world as it is offering compassion wherever we go. I see this in the work you do, and we are all the more fortunate for it.
Karen
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I become daily more aware that each of us occupies a world of our own making. As I walk around I enjoy imagining the worlds of those who bustle by, not noticing me, or, if I am noticed, labeling me and moving on. Each experience of what it means to be human is unique–and that is wonderful.
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Yes, Adrian, it seems the uniqueness of each of us is yet another connection we have with one another. And it is a wonder to discover.
Karen
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Lovely post as always, Karen. How wonderful, the thought that we are always but a seat away from being home. I enjoyed learning about Willie Baronet’s campaign, and what a profound lesson, and so true that we are all connected by a common thread of humanness. I’ll refer back to this one. Thanks for sharing, I needed to read this today.
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Baronet’s fascinates me as well. When I read his “we are all homeless” statement, my response was, “We are, and we are all at home.” It is a slender thread but it is a connection, and if we remember that we are all one, the entire perspective shifts, I think. Thanks so much, Stephanie!
Karen
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Reblogged this on Living is Not Mental Illness and commented:
A inspiring reflection
on the way of ‘being home.’
Such loveliness in this post. Very thought-provoking as we shift with the elements, making adjustments to align our sense of home with the changing aspects of fall/ spring. Do give Karen a visit… her touching insights are available 24 hours a day, here on WordPress. ~M
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Karen, the point you make is wonderfully empowering. It takes a very deep quiet of mind to become aware of that “seat of self”, and that goes against the grain of our nature, but that’s why we practice. thanks for always being so inspirational.
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Craig, I think you would really enjoy Michael Singer’s book. I have it on Kindle but wish I had a hard copy. I will always be grateful to Singer for the wonderful phrase and image of “seat of self.” Thanks so much for the kind words. They mean a lot.
Karen
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Reblogged this on T. W. Dittmer and commented:
I wish I could write things like this.
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Gosh.
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Ah, Tim….
Karen
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Yes. Thank you.
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🙂
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Lovely!
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🙂
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