There’s a line in the recent Sherlock Holmes movie that grabbed my attention.
“Give me some evidence, Holmes. With a little mud I can build bricks and from there I can build a case.”
I’m struck by how often we use the evidence we have to wall us into a world view that isn’t kind to us or the people around us. Someone cuts us off in traffic and we take it personally. Our kids are acting out. Proof we’re a bad parent. And so it can go, if we believe our case that we’re failing or not measuring up, somehow.
What I’ve been discovering as I work with my own mind and assist others in inquiry is that there’s another choice. When you learn to question your mind, you begin to see a whole new set of evidence. You notice the people who left space for you to merge into their lane, the sweet moments with your children, noticing their process of growing up for what it is. The more evidence you find, the more bricks you have to create a world worth inhabiting. A kinder world. The world of beauty just outside your wall of judgements.
Give it a try. Notice for a day the way how you collect bricks. Where doesn’t the world or other people measure up, in your opinion? What if it were just your opinion, nothing else? What else is possible? Begin to collect bricks of possibility. Notice the bricks in your life that create a sense of peace and gratefulness in your heart. Keep building from these bricks and see what happens. Just for a day. Write down what you notice or share it with a dear one.
