If a tire is buried in the ground, it will not stay buried. This is so for a few reasons. Trapped air and methane gasses build up pressure, and the buoyancy of the tire will work up through looser soil layers. Because soil settles, shifts, and goes through freeze-thaw cycles, the pressure from above a buried tire is less than the pressure from below it. And so, over time, a buried tire will come back to the surface.
I did not know about buried tires rising. It was actually my life partner who brought up in a conversation we had. When I heard that something buried, and put away could defy its consequences, defy the physics of the situation, I knew this was the theme of this story in speaking to what “spirit” or “spirituality” means to my understanding of it. I also found it interesting that the online Oxford Languages dictionary defines spirit as, “…noun; the nonphysical part of a person which is the seat of emotions and character; the soul.”
Spirit and the soul. The essence of each of us, I believe. May we take a moment or two to discuss the notion of “buried spirit” or “buried soul”. I am of the belief that my spirit or soul has been around since time immortal. My energy, my “signature” I feel, has been there centuries before I came to be and will continue on until time shall come to cease. Call it “past lives”, or any other term that may be applied, but there has always been “me” and my spirit, my “soul”.
Given that belief, it would seem that the “right” thing to do would be to finish out this lifetime as best I can, or as the saying goes to, “…leave the world better than you found it.” There are many who have done just that: Ghandi, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Theresa, Albert Einstein, John and Robert Kennedy, and so many more that we will not know of, the quiet, unsung healers and heroes.
Then, I need to ask, “So why is my spirit stuck”. There is a new book that came out about finding our purpose. I went to the library to reserve a copy and found out I am number 29 on the list, and that it will take up to half a year to finally get the copy to read. Bookstores are full of self-help books letting us know that we will be able to “find ourselves”, to find our reason for being, to find our spirit, our soul. Just from unscientific observation, I know I am not alone in trying to find a place for my spirit to land on, to feed grounded instead of this nebulous floating it is now experiencing.
This brings me back to the concept of a buried tire, and what it could mean for all of us. I feel that there is a lot of seeking, of trying to find oneself. Maybe it is the time we live in. When we were an agriculture-based society, we were too busy just getting through a day with chores, running a farm, raising a family, and working sun up to sun down that there may have been little time to stop and reflect on the soul. There was certainly purpose, but perhaps little time for contemplation. Maybe that was a good thing. One had work to do, and one could see the outcome of their labor. The days were determined, and purpose was basically without needing to speak about.
But now we have time for reflection and some “soul searching”, no pun intended! Perhaps with this time, we have the ability to listen to the whisper of our spirit, to hear our soul if we but tune in. What is it about our spirit that has been buried? Just like the burr under the saddle, unfinished and undealt with issues can be put away but will always “be there”. What is “the tire” trying to rise up from? Perhaps we are “yes people”, trying to “please all, please none”, and in the process, we deny how we would care to spend our time, our resources, and those we would really like to be with in order to “make others happy”. Perhaps we take a job or choose a career that does not satisfy our creativity or or in any way suit us, but we take this path for security, to please others, or live up to expectations we had of ourselves once, but no longer “fits”.
Or maybe we idle time away because that is just an easier option than trying to accomplish something we feel we may fail at in the end. Any of these examples and so many more not mentioned here can “bury a tire”, but to the soul, the spirit, be an undone thing. There is another analogy I would like to offer, and that is of a delightful video I saw many years ago on television. The video was of a brown paper bag, like a lunch bag we used to pack for our lunches at school. The day was windy, and the video was shot down an alley. This simple bag was floating, dancing in the air along the alley. The wind would catch it, spin it around, swoop it up high, and down low, but during the entire video, the paper bag never once touched the ground. I could not stop watching that video. It was like watching a ballet, defying gravity.
What stuck with me was that the bag never touched the ground, let alone stayed there. Perhaps our spirit, our soul, needs “grounding”, too. I feel we need to be grounded in who we are. We need to find the truth of the essence of ourselves, and this would be our spirit. If we “sit” in our spirit, and know who we are, we act from that groundedness. We will live to our potential because we listened to the essence of ourselves, and by living with a “North Star”, and navigating along a steady horizon, our spirit can both rise to the surface, and yet be grounded at the same time.
What would it take to live as our highest, best selves? I honestly do not know. There would be as many ways to the heart, mind, and soul as there are people in this world. We can certainly tune into the truth of what is right and what is wrong. We can certainly begin to listen to ourselves saying “yes” to someone or something when we would prefer to say “no”. We can pay attention to situations where we twist ourselves up like pretzels in order to please others or try to fit into situations that do not suit us, but we find that may be the path of least resistance.
If there are habits that we would care to let go of, such as overeating or gambling, or drinking, etc., we can stop in the moment between to urge and the action, take a breath, and make a better choice. We can journal our priorities, and have a visual recording of what we wrote down to remind us of what we said was important to us. This may serve as a reminder to stay the course of what is “truly true”.
As I have mentioned before, there are many, many books, videos, and other types of media designed to bring us to ourselves. But unless we commit to doing the work, we will either deal with buried tires that reappear to the surface, or float along like the dancing brown paper bag, never committing to anything meaningful, passing time, missing opportunities, denying spirit. Being fulfilled I do not believe is something that is selfish. What may be selfish is denying a fully actualized human being doing good, best work in this world. Taking care of one’s soul is like putting an oxygen mask on first before helping others. One would not be of use passed out, but actually more of a burden in the situation.
In the study of Ayurveda, which I have practiced for many years, I am of the “Vata Dosha”, and as such, maturity, and “old age” is our season. It has taken me this long in life to let excuses go, stop wasting time, (as there is less and less of it), and press on paying attention to what and who are important, and releasing all the other “noise”. It is time to be worthy of what spirit asks of me, and if I can set an example of what becoming an actualized human being means and is, then that makes this lifetime worthwhile. I will deal with “tires” as they arise, and look for opportunities to feel grounded in spirit’s messages. I wish “grounded rising” for you as well!
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