We may be asked to practice social distancing for now, which is wise and also kind, but this does not mean we must be distant to one another’s hearts. For the bridge between hearts is crafted of the scintillae of light.
There are times when the ground will fall away, and there are no longer any reference points from which to make sense of what is happening. The rug has been pulled from under the life we thought was here, and were counting on to provide stability, solidity, and sense.
The narratives are conflicting, the feelings are contradictory, and the path forward is hazy. It’s as if we can’t access what was so clear from even a few days ago. Even “a few days ago” feels so far away.
All of the work we’ve done – the surrendering, the healing, the insights, the discoveries, the realizations… for some reason, it’s no longer in reach. It’s as if we’re being asked to start over.
There is a sense that some sort of veil is parting, but what is coming next has not yet been given. At times it feels so alive in the unknown, but at other times it is disorienting, and we burn for resolution.
Rather than struggle against the uncertainty, we can give ourselves permission to enter inside it. There is a refuge here, though it is hidden and may not be accessible via ordinary means. We don’t live in a world that honors the wisdom in confusion and doubt, but we were never designed to live someone else’s journey anyway.
Stay close to what is here now, even if what is here is uncertainty, confusion, hopelessness, and just being a bit scared. These, too, are the path, but we must move out of the status quo, habitual perception, and collective trance to remember.
No, today may not be a day for answers, but to let our hearts break open together to the vastness of the question. To take the risk to love one another in a new way. To speak kind words, to listen and hold another’s grief, to stay near.
To use this time in solitude to remember how dear, precious, fragile, and precarious it truly is here.
Photo by Molly Rose Lee
My new book - A Healing Space: Befriending Ourselves in Difficult Times - is now available for pre-order at Amazon and will be published by Sounds True in November.
My previous book - The Path is Everywhere: Uncovering the Jewels Hidden Within You - is available at Amazon.
My monthly online community, Befriending Yourself, co-facilitated with author and spiritual teacher Jeff Foster, is currently closed to new members, but periodically opens throughout the year. To place your name on the mailing list for additional information, please visit the course page here.
