where’s waldo?

Where did March go?  I pulled my question  to ponder and write about in the early days of March and here we are in April and I’m finally settling in to tackle my final draft.  Two visitors and too many excuses later, here I am. 

The question posed in my card pull for March was “what’s the difference?”  Ironic.  What’s the difference between posting on March 31 or April 7, really?  What I will say to that is, it depends on your perspective.  I hold 2 perspectives in this moment.  One, it doesn’t matter at all and better late than never.  The other is that I failed. 

The reality is that writing  for me is an invaluable mental, spiritual and creative practice. And as such it is important that I honor commitments I make to myself that serve me well and keep my mind, body and spirit healthy and in balance – this blog is one of them. 

So, here I am sitting  in curiosity with this question and creating some perspectives and insights to share.  And when I’m done, I’m going to go for a long walk and maybe even do some yoga!

The  question, “what’s the difference?” might be viewed from the energetic perspective of defeat, as in: “what difference can I make?”; “what’s the difference whether I act, engage, enroll, show up or not?”;  “It’s all so big, what difference will it make?”. 

The question might  be read from the energy of the activated Judge saboteur, that crafty devil just looking to compare and find faults and invite us to an us/them party that leaves us in the lonely land of ‘better than’ or in a dark hole of ‘not enough’.  The judge is the master of wreaking havoc through pointing out differences; noticing, comparing, criticizing, assessing, measuring in its otherwise honorable attempt to keep us from the dangers that threaten our safety and well-being, perhaps even our survival.

However, when I wrote this question down, after randomly picking it from the 77 alternatives available in The Hidden Artist Quest Card deck, I was in positive, productive, creative energy.  I engaged with the question as if I was entering a Where’s Waldo book. (Am I dating myself with this reference to the 1980's sensation, in which the cartoon character Waldo hides in a sea of images and your job is to find him?).  The puzzle book asks of you to become an explorer, a curious seeker of nuance, one who examines deeply and carefully, and looks beyond the tricks of assumptions and first glances. 

From this energetic perspective the key to answering this question, “what’s the difference?,”  is found in the emblematic word on bottom of the card, discernment. Discernment is the ability to judge well, distinguish between subtle differences and recognize the true nature of things.

The question from the intention of discernment encourages us to explore, consider, analyze,  look beyond the surface and assumptions we may hold.  It inspires careful comparison and thoughtful consideration of the finer, perhaps hidden details.  It asks us to take a pause, take a breath, look again, look deeper, consider more carefully, notice, really notice and take care-filled action from there.

Make a difference from the place of noticing the difference.

The photo on the card is one I took on Amorgos Island in Greece.  As with all my photos, they are completely unedited.  They are the way I took them in the moment. You would think that I would already have seen everything there was to see in this image.  But, taking in this question and the word discernment I decided to really study the card, to wonder what it might look like if I had cropped it.  I wondered if there is anything I hadn’t noticed.  In the photo there are only 4 colors, blue, yellow, white and grey, but are there? There are only 2 shapes, squares and cylinders; are you sure?  You easily see 4 main elements but how many are there?  It’s still and flat, but is it?

What I’m wondering for myself is how this question can support me, keep me safe and keep me moving forward in these unprecedented times?  It feels more important than ever to look closer, listen closer, and turn up the heat on discernment. Pay attention, notice the differences…judge well and I would add to that, share your insights, what you see with your community. I for one would love to hear about what you are discerning today!

photo by Lynne Harris Bernstein

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