Grasping at Sunglasses

The ancient tradition says that our awareness of our self and our experience of God are one and the same.

[Insert "Reality" if you don't prefer "God" language.]

John Calvin wrote in the opening of Institutes of the Christian Religion:  “Our wisdom consists almost entirely of two parts:  the knowledge of God and of ourselves.  But as these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of these two proceeds and gives birth to the other.”

Or there’s the Bhagavad Gita: "One who knows oneself knows God."

Or Gautama Buddha: "He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened."

Then a favorite of mine, Saint Theresa of Avila, who said, “Almost all problems in the spiritual life stem from a lack of self knowledge.”

Let’s round it out with one of the greats, Meister Eckhart:  “No one can know God who does not first know himself.”

We could keep going, but I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who would enjoy that.

Why is knowledge of self and knowledge of God synonymous?  We wouldn't say this about algebra:  "He who doesn't know himself cannot know the value of X."  But when it comes to God, people for thousands of years have realized the intimate connection to our self awareness.

I think this is because we are subjective creatures.  We don't see Reality as it is, we see it as we are.  We don't get to understand God directly because we interpret our experiences through our own personal lenses.

Without an awareness of the lenses we look through, we are unable to discern what is God and what is us.  What is real and what is our subjective interpretation.

There's a home video of the first time my sister wore sunglasses that is famous in our family.  She's grasping at the air in front of her, trying to find the source of this new, tinted world.

Lindsey, if you’re reading, you were adorable.  Mom, if you’re reading, what is that outfit?

I think this is a great (and super cute) picture of what it is like when we lack self awareness.  We can't discern what is real and what is coming from our "glasses."

Without self-awareness, we walk around stuck in thoughts that we don't know we have, projecting our issues out onto the external world, and stumbling on our patterns that we can't see.

But as we become more aware of our self, we simultaneously are able to better know God, Reality or what is actually true of the situations we find ourself in.  And we can see what we are bringing into that situation.

So if we don't want to be like my adorable sister grasping at the air, how do we step into more self-awareness?  How do we begin to see the glasses we wear?

It's not an easy thing to look at that which you look through.  But the three things that have been most helpful for me are 1) Mindfulness/meditation: slowing down and watching my thoughts.  2) Community: having others around that can act as a mirror (especially a loving, wise spouse).  3) Tools/Frameworks:  like therapy or the Enneagram.

And, it just so happens, that my incredible friend and Enneagram teacher, Abi and I created a workshop on the Enneagram!

This has been one of my favorite tools for self-awareness.  I enjoy many tools and personality typologies, but I've found the Enneagram unique in that it not only serves as a mirror for where I am right now, but also shows the path towards growth and health.

Whether you've binged on books/podcasts about the Enneagram and know your type well, or this is the first time you've ever heard of the "Ennea-what?" we'll explore how this tool can help us become more self-aware of who we are, what we need, and how we can stumble a bit less over ourselves.

If you're interested, click here to watch the 2-hour workshop.