Make Your Offering

I did a one-year online mindfulness course with Rick Hanson called “The Foundations of Well-Being.” For me, the practices were life-changing: for the first time, I understood how short, daily mindfulness practices build up a sense of inner warmth and calm over time.

One practice comes back to me every January 1st when we formulate our dreams, resolutions, goals, for the next year: “Making Your Offering.”

Rick has us re-formulate our personal goals and dreams as offerings and gifts.

In this practice, Rick has us disconnect what we do or make from how it is received or valued. He reminds us that we have no control over the latter, only the former. So we do our best and let it go. What we make or do is simply an offering.

“It's a kind of gift you are offering.

Your responsibility is to make it as good as possible, and after that, it's the responsibility of others to make use of it or receive it as they want to and judge best.

This doesn't mean that you might not be disappointed or frustrated about what happens, but it shifts the focus to making it as an offering, making it as a giving, as an expression of yourself, rather than trying to relentlessly control how other people respond to it or what they do with it.”

This reminds me of the advice given by the mother of modern dance, Martha Graham, to the choreographer, Agnes de Mille:

“It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.”

This week, as we step into the New Year, we make an offering, to the best of our ability, and let it go. I imagine a bird flying away, a twig on a rushing stream, a cloud disappearing over the mountain…

We can also feel deep gratitude for the many offerings of others we receive.