Be In The World But Not Of It
Be in the world, not of the world.
Not of things. Of thoughts.
Of thoughts that we need more things.
Of our problems and aches,
Of our mind and its twirls.
Of our incessant need to do more, be more.
Not of our creeping underlying guilt,
Not of the latest fix.
Not of the sticky pressure on the shoulders,
Of the insatiable hunger,
and the next better thing.
Be IN the world.
In your dharma,
In your purpose,
In your path,
In the action that you love.
Walk the talk,
Be the walk.
Bring out your gifts and talents,
Your eagerness and light,
Your softness and care.
So you can spread,
So we can share,
And we can create
A collective change.
"Be in the world, but not of the world" is a phrase that's heard a lot in Christian subculture. It refers to what Jesus said as recorded by one of His close friends in John 15:19 and John 17:14-16.
I emphasize IN because most times we are of the world. What happens outside ends up consuming us. We are sort of in a hypnotic spell of distraction. There is so much to look at, think about, and do lately. It’s too much, and not enough time for any of it, really. We are hypnotized by our jobs, the news, social media, ads, and the latest skincare products. The algorithm has made its way into the crevices and dendrites of our neurons. Our phones know exactly what we “need” which only creates this feeling of never having/ being enough. When will I get myself fixed up and right?
We have the illusion that power is to consume the world at our fingertips with a double click on our Apple Wallet, but really it consumes us. Our energy gets zapped through our eyes, our ears, and our taste buds every second.
The invitation then becomes, to be IN the world. Here. Now. So we can absorb this life we’re living. To make the conscious decision to be present with ourselves, or with anyone else for that matter. At first it sounds perhaps like it would be too much of an effort, too hard, and that you’d need to become a yogi, or some sort of ‘spiritual’ meditation being to do it. Easier to chug a glass of wine or a beer and numb ourselves away. Why not scrollllll through instagram, so the the adds and photos of people we don’t even know take our thoughts far far away from here, from ourselves. It’s easier to distract ourselves than to meet ourselves.
We don’t think about it but really, the way we act so distracted all the time, just shows our unwillingness to be here. In the midst of the distraction with the outside noise it becomes easy to forget, in a very deep way, who we are. And this is not good news.
Perhaps we fear that if we truly meet ourselves we run the risk of being too at ease, too joyful, too content, and no one has ever really taught us that. In fact, probably no one has really told us that we even deserve that, which is why we’re wired to complain or feel wrong about things. We live through a filter of things never being quite right, and we cling to our past dilemmas and repeat them over and over again. We get ourselves into the same types of relationships and frustrations. We become addicted to the imperfectness of it all, and we focus there, and loose our energy there.
Let’s make the world ours again (I say again because we were born with this). Let’s be IN it. Let’s be heart directors of our lives. The deeper we travel within the heart, the more magic we are able to cultivate in the outside world. We can only create change in the world around us when we are in touch with our true essence, the essence of our full potential. When we move and live from our heart, it clears our vision and we can see things as they are: bright and full of magic.
I’ve realized there are two very big components that help me not get distracted by the noise: humbleness and gratitude. Gratitude creates a doorway to see our gifts and talents and recognize our duty to expand these in our life. Humbleness allows us to acknowledge that we don’t know it all, which means that we can allow our life experiences to teach us so we can course correct and redirect at any given point.
In the February 2025 Jivamukti Yoga FOTM “Krishna gives special attention to the yoga of action: giving up ownership of the fruits/results of our actions and acting for a greater good in the world.” Which refers to being in the world without expecting anything in return; to do for the sake of doing because in doing, we are getting in touch with our purpose which in turn, creates an impact in the world.
Bring one hand to your heart and one hand to your belly. Feel your feet. That’s it. Feel your feet connected to the ground below you. Feel the connection between your feet, your belly and your heart. How this heartbeat keeps you on your feet. Breathe and feel where you stand. Become aware of your connection to this reality. It’s the only one we’ve got, so get into it. Dig into it. And maybe you’ll rise.
Yours Truly,
Fernanda