Put down the duckie
“Until you know yourself to be essentially whole, and not the wounded and broken one who needs to be fixed, the true solution to your personal suffering will remain out of reach.”–Gail Brenner
So I was watching a documentary about Sesame Street. In one of the songs, Ernie was futilely attempting to learn to play the saxophone. All he could produce was a sorry-sounding squeak. Hoots, the Owl, finally diagnoses Ernie’s problem and launches into a clever song that I’ve decided to use as my New Year’s resolution: Put down the duckie.
Ernie is unable to play his heart out, to fully join the exuberant band because he refuses to let go of the rubber duckie he has been clutching to his heart.
The “rubber duckie” most of us non-Muppets refuse to surrender are the highly-conditioned thoughts and patterns that make up the ground of our awareness.
On the top of the list is the suffocating belief that we need to be fixed, that we’re not quite as good at “playing the saxophone” as the next guy. We also believe we must jump through a series of hoops to get there—wherever there is.
But the need to grasp onto that duckie is nothing but the ego’s opinion. And in 2022, the only voice I’m listening to is the one reverberating in my heart, the one that doesn’t come and go.
So bye-bye duckie!
I also want to announce that the Taz Grout 222 Foundation has finally chosen a candidate for the 2/22/22 award that happens to fall on a Tuesday (2’s day). As usual, there were SO MANY inspiring ideas. Reading through them all made me pump my fist in the air and hoot, “Shazam!”
People are out there doing amazing things. The Global Art Project for Peace, for example, pairs artists from around the world. Each creates a work of art (a song, a dance, a painting) that expresses their vision of global peace and goodwill and then every two years in late April the messages are exchanged, with peace circulating across the globe. Artists from more than 97 countries have participated.
Another beautiful candidate helmed by 25-year-old Romanian artist Florentina even has a “spokes-zebra” whose motto is “My stripes may be different, but my heart beats the same.” I also really liked their “We are all Stardust” t-shirts.
Like always, the winner will be announced on February 22.
In the meantime, East West Bookshop has asked me to do a Pop-up Possibility Posse. It’s on Zoom and, as the notice says, there’s no agenda, no set format…just a fun, high-vibe gathering where you can ask me anything.
My portion of the proceeds will, of course, go to the Taz Grout 222 Foundation.
I’d love to see you there.
So Joyful New Year, my loving, brilliant, inspiring friends. Let’s make this the year we put down the duckie for good. #222 Forever
Pam Grout is the author of 20 books including E-Squared, E-Cubed, Thank & Grow Rich and her latest book, The Course in Miracles Experiment: A Starter Kit for Rewiring Your Mind (And Therefore Your World) that has just been turned into an app. Badass ACIM (badass-acim.com)
