Painting by Kevin McEvenue
It Is What It Is!
I would like to do something new, something that speaks from my direct experience of something that is coming to me that I would like to share with you. I would like to begin by saying a few things about what I would like to share and if you are interested in exploring this topic, you can click on the audio recording to hear my direct experience of this particular subject matter that may be of interest to both of us.
The phrase in this session that has triggered something more for me comes to me in this way: “It is what it is.”
This kind of saying has been repeating itself over and over again and maybe it will get some attention because obviously it seems important for me to hear it. And, of course, I have a question: what does this phrase, “It is what it is” mean to me? And perhaps what does this phrase “It is what it is” mean for you.
It is my belief–or trust–that if I speak directly from my experience as something felt, rather than just understood, you may feel a connection between us that feels different and perhaps a little unusual. Particularly if you resist trying to understand what is being said but just feel it or just “take it in”! What I have been exploring is that when we share something meaningful, that feels real and true and alive in me, something can happen in you too! Often the energy in that way of sharing is palpable.
In focusing terminology, you might describe this as a felt sense to felt sense connecting in a heartfelt way. Something in me that feels alive in me awakens something in you that feels alive and may touch you. It is clearly an inner experience of yourself because of this connection happening between us. This is the kind of sharing I would like to explore with you and see if what is being shared on this topic resonates with something in you as well.
The phrase, “it is what it is” perhaps is very familiar. It’s a phrase, a series of words. But I would like to pause and let those words be felt inside me, deliberately pausing and stepping back a little so that these words have the space they need to awaken to their own sense of themselves as though they can have a life of their own.
It begins with a thought, but if I step back a little and come back to that place in me that has a sense of “me here” something more can awaken and perhaps take on a life of its own beyond thought; become more, an “experience” that I feel inside me suddenly. This is what I want to demonstrate today. I will start by just saying these words, “it is what it is,” and then wait and see what comes inside me physically—physically connecting to these words.
If you are still curious, please continue and click on the audio and join me here. See what comes—or I should say—notice what comes in me and then maybe in you, that resonates mutually each in our own ways.
Yes, maybe make room for what feels like a surprise or unexpected and yet very connected to your own life, separate from mine. And mark that. Mark what came as something that is wants to be noticed in you, in your life, and maybe share that with others in some way.
Kevin McEvenue
Thank you Kevin for giving us a window into what is next for you. This is a simple act of being with a phrase that is like a felt sense for you. It has its own point of view and purpose without any particular narrative. You hold with equal regard both the rage and the acceptance that this phrase engenders for you without needing to reference a particular narrative. This helps you be with something new that emerges from you body movement that opens up more unknown possibilities.
It felt like that something in me that guides me without me even knowing it what is. It seems to have so much power until I stop and be with all that moves in me from these guiding words–like a phrase your parents taught you but you have appropriated for your own highest and greatest good in spite of your parents’ meaning.
Diana Scalera
Dear Kevin,
I listened to this audio, “It is what it is” from my body, really seeking to hear it with my WholeBody.
I noticed that my thoughts were one thing, and my body reacted in a way that was kind of surprising, like it had a mind of its own. I felt inner expansion several times throughout the listening. More and more inner expanding and opening up.
There was a great relief to not have to try to change things or to resist What Is in my own life, both national and international events as well as personal reactions to small moments.
I realized how much energy I expend ‘thinking’ and ‘worrying’ about something that simply “is.” As though thinking could change it. A great burden felt lifted when I considered the truth of the statement: “It is what it is.” So much energy has been wasted.
I ask now to be able to accept that ‘it is what it is’–to know it.
That’s what came for me.
with thanks,
elizabeth
And one afterthought: my relief does not leave me feeling hopeless or passive, rather it lifts a burden that allows me to feel the energy to ACT when needed! Just with a stronger sense of me-here.
elizabeth
I get that, it sounds like you step back enough to allow a deeper wisdom to guide you to act from another places that seems easier somehow and maybe just right. Kevin
Kevin]
Hello again Kevin,
I’ve sat with the statement, “It is what it is” more. And when I was reading the book “Your Body Knows the Answer–Using Your Felt Sense to Solve Problems, Effect Change & Liberate Creativity” by David Rome, I found a couple sentences that really jumped out at me about “It is what it is”.
Here’s what I read on page 17:
“Here it is worth repeating Carl Roger’s dictum: It is a curious paradox that when I accept myself as I am, then I can change. We can add as a corollary: It is a curious paradox that when I accept things just as they are, then I can find ways to innovate and make things better.”
elizabeth
I liked that…… and it is always a struggle for me… and yet when I accept what is, something new appears in my consciousness and feels just right….so right! Amazing. Kevin