When you’ve lost something dear, and you can’t stop hurting, and everyone around you is full of light, let the lightness they carry soothe your sore heart. Even though you don’t want to be touched in your grief. And when everyone around you is hurt, or lost in their grief, or near death, just as you’ve landed in a small patch of joy, don’t feel guilty. Just touch whatever they might touch, without judgment, leaving a trail of softness and acceptance. In time, our grief and our softness find each other, the way light fills every crack. We must not resist either, but open before each other, and fill each other every chance we get.
A Question to Walk With: Describe a time when you were filled with light while those around you were suffering. Then describe a time when you were struggling while those around you were doing well. How did you experience these opposites? When were others heartening and when were they disheartening? What was the difference?
This excerpt is from my book, Things That Join the Sea and the Sky: Field Notes on Living.
*Photo credit: Pixabay