The spiritual life is about becoming more at home in your own skin.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of self-acceptance and authenticity.
Parker J. Palmer’s quote highlights that a fulfilling spiritual life revolves around achieving comfort and acceptance in one’s own identity. It suggests that true spirituality involves inner harmony and self-awareness, leading to a deeper connection with oneself and the world around us.
In practice
In a workshop about self-improvement, this quote could be used to encourage participants to embrace their true selves.
The academic bias against subjectivity not only forces our students to write poorly ("It is believed...," instead of, "I believe..."), it deforms their thinking about themselves and their world. In a single stroke, we delude our students into believing that bad prose turns opinions into facts and we alienate them from their own inner lives.
Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am.
Self-care is never a selfish act - it is only good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer others.
We need a coat with two pockets. In one pocket there is dust, and in the other pocket there is gold. We need a coat with two pockets to remind us who we are.
The kind of teaching that transforms people does not happen if the student’s inward teacher is ignored… we can speak to the teacher within our students only when we are on speaking terms with the teacher within ourselves.
Our deepest calling is to grow into our own authentic self-hood, whether or not it conforms to some image of who we ought to be. As we do so, we will not only find the joy that every human being seeks--we will also find our path of authentic service in the world.
Healing works through a kind of detox: things have got to come up in order to be released. That is true of our personal issues, and also our collective issues. We can't just push the darkness down, pour pink paint over it and then pretend it's not there. We have to look at it, accept that it exists and then release it for healing.
In the end, The treasure of life is missed by those who hold on and gained by those who let go
Confession of errors is like a broom which sweeps away the dirt and leaves the surface brighter and clearer. I feel stronger for confession.
We only see what we want to see; we only hear what we want to hear. Our belief system is just like a mirror that only shows us what we believe.
For my own part, I have never had a thought which I could not set down in words, with even more distinctness than that with which I conceived it.
You've got to bend with the wind or you're broken.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.