LOVE AND LIGHT.
MIND THE MESS. 💎

I spent a fair chunk of my life hanging around spiritual people, which in retrospect was probably asking for trouble. Love. Compassion. Service. Presence. Awakening. God. I knew the vocabulary well.

Then, out of nowhere, I had a massive stroke and acquired left-sided hemiplegia. I could still walk and travel, which created the illusion that I was more capable than I was.

“Walk” may be overstating it.

I used a stick, had poor balance, weakness and partial paralysis down my left side, and one functioning hand. Showering meant trying not to fall over while washing one-handed. Dressing was a balancing act. Luggage was an engineering project.

For a while, I lived at a spiritual training academy in America, surrounded by people studying love while I was quietly trying to get my trousers on without falling over in time for the morning session. To be fair, I probably should have manifested better balance and a second arm. Mostly, I just needed people to notice. Apparently, noticing is an advanced spiritual practice.

When I eventually left the academy, there was concern about the state of my room.

Fair play. It was a mess.

Unfortunately, vacuuming requires a useful combination of balance, mobility and arms. I was running short on all three. They noticed the room. They hadn’t particularly noticed the person struggling to live in it.

That still makes me laugh.

I’ve received more spontaneous help from complete strangers at airports than from some of the most spiritual people I've known. No discussion of consciousness required. Complete strangers simply saw a disabled bloke struggling and said, “Need a hand, mate?”

Turns out that may be the entire teaching.

If someone is struggling, notice. If you can help, help. And perhaps don’t put the bloke with one functioning hand in charge of the vacuum cleaner.

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