The Great Revival— Awakening in the Now
“If you want to get back to the garden, you have to become a gardener.”
— MY HUSBAND, GORDON DVEIRIN
It’s the Fourth of July, and this manuscript is due to my publisher the day after tomorrow. But I just can’t work toward a deadline in the same frenzied way that I used to. Gordon and I have spent much of the morning wandering in the mountains with our dogs and admiring the gardens we’ve put so much effort into this season. From time to time, I come inside, sit down at the computer, and write. The process feels natural, without any of the unpleasant aftertaste of burned adrenal energy.
By the midafternoon, Gordie and I walk the five mountain acres where we live with Milo, our standard poodle puppy; and Sophie, our wise old Aussie who has taken him in so generously. It’s raining big warm drops as we visit half a dozen different ecosystems on the land and exclaim over every last wildflower and blade of grass. The ability of nature to revitalize and adapt to changing circumstances is nothing short of breathtaking.
Gordie looks at me and smiles as we make our way back to the house, hand in hand, so I can return to writing. He’s exuberant that I’ve come back to life. With my revival, our relationship also feels fresh and exciting. Burnout, after all, is a family affair.
In part, by tending to our gardens, we have also been nurturing a renewed relationship with life and each other. “The lure of the garden has been like falling in love all over again,” Gordie remarks. “That’s what you’ve been doing these last months, Joanie. It’s been an incredible time of renewal. A rite of spring and a rite of passage. Our gardening here—our practice—has created a seamless transition between nature’s own beauty and what we’re able to add to it. To be a gardener is to enter into a whole different relationship with nature. That’s the secret of beauty. To arrive at harmony between ourselves and what grows all around us. The healing of our souls depends upon this, and in the process, we enter a dance with life that fosters abundance, generosity of spirit, deep appreciation, and the full joy of aliveness.”
The Great Revival into Wholeness
The gift of burnout, as Gordie so beautifully expressed it, is a healing into the full joy of aliveness. That healing, a return to what author and educator Parker Palmer calls “the hidden wholeness,” is a revelation that’s right under our collective noses.
One of the great delights in writing this book so publicly on Facebook was that the FBFs bore witness to, and participated in, my own gradual transformation back to aliveness. They let me know when I was slipping into burnout, and they applauded little breakthroughs into presence. Most of all, they celebrated me as a whole and valuable human being, regardless of where I was on the 12-stage burnout continuum at any given moment. It was authenticity that mattered the most to them.
The day before I turned in the manuscript, FBF and real-life friend Oriah House (also known as Oriah Mountain Dreamer) posted the following:
Joanie, I just opened FB and there you are, on at the same time. Yes indeed, we teach what we need to learn, because (hopefully) our struggle with what we write/teach about can offer something to others. We don’t ask someone who is a natural at something to teach us how to do it—he or she won’t be able to articulate it because it comes naturally The best teachers are the ones who continue to have to consciously practice what they teach.
What I’m practicing is so simple that it’s really easy to miss. Burnout disappears in the Now because there’s no separation between you and life unfolding. You are present and accounted for, immersed in a harmonious dance with the moment. This is love in its bare-bones state, a deep connection and appreciation that opens the door to eternity. And in that timeless state, you can sometimes see forever—or at least as far as the next horizon. Step after elegant step, you can follow your bliss into the fullest expression of life flowing through your own authentic, unique self.
The Power of Presence
In these times of change, corporations, like individuals, are increasingly interested in how they can tune in to what Otto Scharmer, senior lecturer at MIT, calls “the future that wants to emerge.” Divining the future used to be the province of fortune-tellers rather than consultants for Fortune 500 companies. Scharmer works with international institutions and governments and has co-designed award-winning business leadership programs for world-renowned client firms, focusing on “building people’s collective capacity to achieve profound innovation and change.”1
To that end, Scharmer formed the Presencing Institute, and the word presencing is defined as “a journey that connects us more deeply both to what wants to emerge in the world and to our emerging, originating self.”2
I love that—the recognition by a business consultant and visionary that our highest future possibility (what I call heaven on Earth) is the emergence of our authentic self as it peeks out in moments of presence.
FBF Len Delony described presence as being “open in gratitude in a way that opens the eyes and ears of the heart.” This, he continued, helps us become open to our vocation—our personal future that wants to emerge. Len added this to the discussion:
Wow! This conversation on burnout sure struck a chord with a lot of people! I’ve been following that question for at least 15 years in a “healing community” as a hospital chaplain, more recently as a spiritual director connected with a Methodist church. I agree that it seems to be more about heart than busyness. However, without ongoing contemplative rhythms (broadly defined), it is often too hard to connect with and be present to our deepest desires and callings.
Our culture generally focuses too quickly on goals and productivity, often at an addictive pace. Everyone is unique in how vocation unfolds, but a common question is, “What helps me be open in gratitude, and attentive in a way that opens the eyes and ears of the heart?” With a heartfelt sense of vocation, work seems more passionately creative and sustainable. But how can we find better balance for our work and unhurried rhythms for simple, gracious presence in our living?
The FBFs shared their own ways of finding the contemplative rhythm and balance that leads to mindful presence in the Now. I know from personal experience that identifying a practice that works for you and sticking with it religiously is a prerequisite for reigniting your passion and connecting with the Spirit of Guidance.
My own daily practice includes the natural meditation of breath, body awareness, and movement throughout the day; the enjoyment of nature; and loving— really seeing and relating to—Gordie, my friends, and my family members (both two- and four-legged). This simple, organic practice helps me feel less carried away by our fast-paced culture.
“The speed of life has increased,” posted FBF Kamila Susan Harkavy, “but it’s the speed of business that seems to be ever increasing. My ego responds to it and is stimulated by it, urging me to keep up with the Joneses. However, my spirit just can’t accommodate it, so I take life at a pace that works for me I allow as much time as I need for contemplative activities, I practice yoga, and I exercise outdoors.”
FBF Thapkay Dolkar shared the following:
A walk in nature is always full of inspiration for me. It combines physical, mental, and emotional presence into a total experience. It’s much more than a sensory experience. If I tap into a poetic or intuitive expression of myself, this is definitely rejuvenating—letting go while remaining grounded to the present.
FBF Christine Hibbard echoed the healing power of nature, embodying the poetry that Thapkay Dolkar mentioned:
The body knows when to restore itself . . . resting in silence, glorious, clear blue sky, abundant fields of wildflowers. . . . We shed our old form, and the butterfly spreads its wings.
FBF Jim Rheinhardt has a unique way of fanning his inner flame:
When I’m feeling a lack of enthusiasm, Divine inspiration is always the key for me to a return to a higher energy level. Some people get that from walks in nature or meditation. And although I love both of those methods, I find that engaging my perceived problems head-on with love and gratitude results in Divine inspiration and increased enthusiasm.
What struck me most about the Facebook conversations on presence were the unique responses of each person. Our individual differences in how and why we burn out and the ways in which we revive and rekindle our enthusiasm for life reflects our authenticity, which is the subject of our final chapter. As we plunged deep into the Burnout Inferno and reflected inwardly while traveling through purgatory, we’ve finally reached heaven on Earth. Welcome to paradise!
