This essay,
A
Master
At Being (And Having People Be),
is the twenty sixth in the complete group of
Experiences Of A Friend
(click
here
for the open group
Experiences Of A Friend II):
I'd be living my life as a walking fraud ie I'd be living my life as an
impostor
if I didn't acknowledge my teachers and mentors and
friends
for the
contribution
they make to my life ie for what they make possible in my life - or,
said more
rigorously,
for the
contribution
they make to my life which
empowers
me to invent possibility for myself in my life (and frankly,
without the latter, the ongoing value of anycontribution
would be in doubt ie it would be in
question,
if not in jeopardy).
In this regard, I'm referring to learning from them the kinds of things
which aren't taught in
schools
or in
colleges,
although when it comes to the
arts
and to literature
(poetry
in particular), I've received many mentored references to them which
convey critical ideas
brilliantly,
and which I subsequently included in my own repertoire. Specifically,
there's a small
committed
group of
mavericks
I thank for making a pointed
contribution
to my life, a
contribution
from which I
getnothing
more (and
nothing
less) than just being with people. Of all the forms of
interactions that can possibly go on between people, there's arguably
none as elemental as, none as all encompassing as, none as all
embracing as, none as basic as, and none even as eternal
as just being with people.
I learned being with people very easily from them: by
observing
and experiencing the way they be with me (call me a sponge
if you will, in my study methods: it's
true,
and it
works
well). It really
gets
to
the heart
of
what we are
as human beings. And because it
gets
to
the heart
of
what we are
as human beings, it takes all the
effort
out of being with people. When there's
no effort
in being with people, people with whom I'm being, have
no effort
in being with me in return. Subsequently (and this is
how
my mentors'
contributions
land for me) it
creates
the possibility of them experiencing
no effort
in being
who they are
for themselves, so that others with whom they be, experience
no effort
in being
who they are
for themselves, and on and on and on. This means the
contribution
I received, then also spontaneously continues. Colloquially this is a
gift
that keeps on giving. But it's way different than a
milquetoastcontribution.
It's a
vast,
life-altering,
breakthroughcontribution.
Of one such person, I've said he isn't just a
master
at being: he's also a
master
at having people be. If that were all he is, and if that were the only
impact he produces, it would be enough. But it's more than that. It's
once people experience him being and having them be, they in turn are
empowered
to be that way for others. In other
words,
he's a
master
at being and at having people be, so that they
spontaneously develop their own
mastery
at being and having people be. This, when you get down to it, is a
litmus test
of (his)
mastery.
And it's easily
gotten
and quickly travels from person to person to person.
There are others who display similar
mastery
at being, some of whom have even
mastered
ensuring their
mastery
quickly travels to other people, yet haven't ensured their
mastery
quickly travels from other people to other people, and on and on
and on. They haven't done the
background
inquiries and / or developed ways to ensure this
happens.
That, by the way, doesn't diminish the enormity of their
contributions.
What it does do is make him someone I'll keep on keeping
my
eyes
and ears on.