Sue Hartman
As a young child, I was stuck by the idea that I should be peaceful and loving. But I didn’t always feel peaceful and loving… sometimes the opposite. I couldn’t figure out how to change myself. I grew convinced that I was bad, unloved, unwanted, not good enough…. I had no idea that my suffering was in my mind… that I didn’t have to believe every stressful thought about myself, nor did I have to believe stressful thoughts about others to protect myself. By the time I found The Work, I had a well worn path of beating myself up mentally, in hopes of making myself a better person. Luckily I had an inkling that my thinking was the problem.
My first two inquires were very painful. I felt like I was wrestling an alligator in a deep, murky swamp… I was calling into question my whole ‘not good enough,’ ‘not loved’ story. It was a painful story and still the mind fought to be right. After those first two inquiries, I have LOVED doing The Work. The Work is a forum for me to be honest with myself; to open my mind, loosen the knots.
My life is very different now. I’m still amazed by the kindness I experience everywhere. I’m actually excited to notice stressful thoughts… I get to discover a new perspective. And the best news is that I didn’t have to learn to love myself or others, nor did I have to learn to be peaceful. What I discovered is that love and peace is what’s left when I’m not busy reacting to a stressful thought; when I’m not busy arguing with reality. I suspect this is true for all of us.
The Work has helped me find peace and clarity with: feeling unloved; verbal abuse; drug addiction and incarceration of loved ones; son in the military; scarcity mentality; parent with Alzheimer’s; single parenting; my less than perfect parenting; job loss; abortion; fear of homelessness; dyslexia; anxiety; and suicide. By questioning my thoughts about poverty, injustice, environmental degradation, and war, my anger appears to have been replaced with clarity, compassion, creativity, and positive approaches to problem solving.
If you would like to do The Work with my support I offer you skillful inquiry with increased ease. I promise to give you what I give myself, the pure Work. I delight in working with people new and experienced using The Work. No thought is too big or too small. I have yet to see or hear anything in another that I haven’t found in myself… it’s all welcome here.
I would be honored to meet you in The Work! I’m available for private sessions and group presentations and workshops.