Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen and the Art of Both Sides Now

Dramatic skies over the west coast of Florida

Recently, I was with my husband in Florida and he looked up and said “I love the sky here. The clouds are amazing.” I could see his point. I, too, was struck by the vastness of the sky and the breathtaking cloud formations that appear in them. They have been a source of tremendous fascination and wonder for us both.

It made me think of Joni Mitchell’s song Both Sides Now, in which she writes:

… I've looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It's cloud illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all …

Later, she concludes:

I've looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all

I can understand the confusion and the “not knowing” of life. So many things just don’t seem to make sense at the moment. Witness the war in Ukraine, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and the allowing of guns to be carried in public places in New York State. The clouds of life seem very dark and gloomy at the moment.

And that is where yoga and meditation can be helpful. If anything, they can be a starting place for clearing some of the fog in our own bodies and minds. And they can be useful tools for holding the dark clouds within us that we’ll undoubtedly encounter at some point in our lives with more grace, patience, and compassion.

I realize that if we just had blue skies all the time, we’d never be able to experience the clouds. And sometimes the darker and heavier the clouds, the more contoured and colored and rich our experience of them will be.

And so too will our lives be richer. It is the darkness and drama that can be entry points into living a rich life. A life that leads toward more compassion, generosity, and kindness. As Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen said in an interview with Krista Tippett:

... Sometimes what appears to be a catastrophe over time becomes a strong foundation from which to live a good life.  It’s possible to live a good life even though it isn’t an easy life....  That’s one of the best kept secrets in America.

Dr. Remen herself has experienced the dark side of life in a life-long battle with Crohn’s Disease. But she has somehow overcome the odds and lived longer than was expected, and as a physician working with people with cancer she has a unique insight into healing and curing. She says:

The way we deal with loss shapes our capacity to be present to life more than anything else.

Certainly, loss has that effect of making us immediately present. And that is an aim of yoga and meditation – to be ever more present. Of course, we can also try to escape the feelings of loss through drugs and alcohol. And at times that might be a valid escape route. And, we could also choose to use the tools of yoga and meditation to sit with the experiences of loss, and create a bigger container within which to hold the feelings. And, hopefully this will lead ultimately to creating more compassion for ourselves and others.

Dr. Remen said:

… By listening generously, we may not be able to help find a cure, but we may certainly be able to help create a healing. … We can only cure a small amount of human suffering.  The rest needs to be healed ....

And perhaps that is why we’ve been put on this Earth and been given our unique set of challenges. Perhaps we are here simply to be healed. None of us will escape dying. There’s no cure for that. But perhaps we can leave this Earth having left it a better place and be cured of at least some of the karma we brought with us. Dr Remen said:

The view from the edge of life is so much clearer than the view that most of us have.  That what seems to be important is much more simple and accessible for everybody, which is who’ve you touched on your way through life, who’s touched you... what you’re leaving behind you in the hearts and minds of other people is far more important than whatever wealth you may have accumulated.

Perhaps we’ll never understand life’s illusions – cloud’s illusions, if you will. And maybe that’s OK. Without the darkness of life, there wouldn’t be wonder and amazement to behold as we gaze at the clouds floating by in our inner skies. And without that perspective, we would have one less way forward toward more healing, and more compassion and kindness.

I hope the clouds within you are an amazing sight to behold at the moment.

May you be happy, …
May you be healthy, …
May you see both sides, now,
May you see life at the edges,
May you be further healed, so that you can be of great benefit to ALL Beings everywhere.

Aloha and Metta, Peace and Ease,
Paul Keoni Chun

The Light is temporarily being covered by darkness, but for Sure it is still there.