How to transform pain (& pleasure) into revelation

Become the Alchemist

November invites us inward. Halloween, All Saints Day, or Samhain marks the turning — from the outer harvest to the inner one, from daylight’s bright colors to the deeper darkness. It's the invitation to go inward.

We gather again — nestling around tables, sharing laughter and stories, and, from time to time, absorbing unexpected jolts.

Fortunately, all of it can become medicine. The laughter, the tension, the cravings, the triggers, the quiet. 

Each carries its own kind of heat (yes, even laughter), and that heat can be harnessed for transformation. Even the smallest irritation or trigger can become fuel.

When we resist the urge to either escape from or strike back at what burns, and instead meet it with quiet awareness, something eternally bright ignites to cleanse and transform us.

The smallest, most ordinary moment becomes alchemy — a point of revelation that can instantly shift our perception, and transform the fabric of who and what we are.

Fuel for Revelation

The fires of irritation, hatred, anger, hurt, boredom, and craving aren’t obstacles to peace — they’re gateways to insight.

Each time we resist the urge to seek distraction from these feelings, or to soothe or calm that fire, we reclaim fuel for the fires of revelation—fuel that had been leaking outward. We become alchemists, turning reactivity into revelation.

When we feel the burn of having been ignited in a wrong way (triggered), let this be a signal to us to use this moment as fuel for insight.

Do this one time and you may very well find yourself amazed at what you've discovered.

Maybe we notice where we are fidgeting, and instead of expelling that energy, we harness it. We still our hands. Halt our bouncing knee. And in the process, let that energy pool in the body, allowing it to become fuel for revelation. 

When we find ourselves searching for a few moments of relief (channel surfing, scrolling social media, searching for leftover Halloween candy), we can stop the train in its tracks and let the irritation wash over us.

Let it burn.

Breathe.

Let it burn until its done. Do nothing toward it.

Let the thoughts run, let the irritation niggle. Don't try to soothe it or talk yourself down. Let it burn all the way out.

As it subsides, you'll notice a new form of command emerging. This new command is rooted in the realization that you need not take any action at all toward these disturbances.

This is how we use moments of irritation and disturbance (both wanted and unwanted disturbance) for revelation.

The more subtle we can get with these moments, the more of our day we're able to use.

“The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.” ~ Plutarch

✨ Journal Prompts — After the Fire

When the burning settles and your breath feels steady again, take a few moments to write.  Don’t analyze or edit — just observe what rose to the surface, what softened, and what was revealed. Then jot it down. What sensations arose when I didn’t feed the fire of distraction/soothing/scattering? What did the energy feel like in my body? Did it move, tighten, amplify, or dissolve? What was my irritation trying to show me? Was it pointing to something I’ve been unwilling to feel, say, or release? Was it pointing to a "way of living" that has opposition built into it? Where am I leaking energy by escaping presence? What tiny habits or reflexes pull me away from being here — and what would I have to be willing to endure to stay present instead? What did I discover when I let it burn all the way through? What truth or clarity waited on the other side of the discomfort? What new space or possibility opened within me once the fire was done?