“If you are always trying to be normal,
you will never know
how amazing you can be.”
~ Maya Angelou
“If you are always trying to be normal,
you will never know
how amazing you can be.”
~ Maya Angelou
Last weekend I was going through a particularly rough patch about love and relationships. I was asking myself, when will I be with someone special and have a deep, intimate relationship? That’s when I noticed a small book tucked on a shelf titled “How to Love” by the Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. The first passage I read was off the charts spine tingly. "Everyone of us is seeking emotional intimacy. We want to have real communication, mutual understanding, and communion. We want to be in harmony with someone." Don’t you just love when the universe gives a supportive message?
It’s like a little high five from the universe. Yo! I’ve got your back. Here, read this. It’ll help. The synchronicity was bittersweet.
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How do we regroup psychologically and emotionally during political times where the chaos feels endless? For example, after watching the first US presidential debate, I was emotionally triggered and exhausted.
Our daily news is full, real, and intense. Here are some strategies to help you regroup. Tryout a few and adjust these suggestions to fit your needs. Ultimately, taking care of yourself is extremely important. “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” ― Audre Lorde #1. Acknowledge you have been triggered. Don’t let anyone tell you what you are feeling is wrong, silly, childish and to ‘get over it.’ Quick fixes and denial of your emotions are shaming. The other evening, I was washing the dinner dishes and I glanced outside. What caught my eye was the colors of the sky when this ditty of inspiration came through.
“The clouds are ancient this evening. Alabaster and pink on a slate-gray sky. They stopped to say, hello. Are you okay? Close your eyes. Let’s stay here for a few and hold onto a piece of quiet. Just you and me and the earth, soaking up needed soul rays so you can stay close with the heartbeat of love and truth.” Some of my best thought streams come in when I’m doing the everyday stuff. It’s a wide-open zone of receiving limitless ideas, without walls and rules and it flows freely. Some of those ideas work and others don’t. Some pieces feel too way-out-there but some are exquisitely juicy. So much so, that I get goose bumps. Sometimes, I’ll know exactly what I want to write and other days I struggle. Ideas aren’t always neat little entities. Of all the seasons I’m most connected to, it would be autumn. This association has changed over the decades. I’m in my 57th circle around the sun and autumn calls me home over and over. The subtle changes in the weather, where those dog days of summer recede, bring an appreciation to the transparency of autumn.
Aging isn’t only chronological; it is also soulful. I’ve rediscovered my true self in my emotional aging. Life’s tutelage has given me wisdom to see how I won’t accept any strikes against my being. I stand without any leaves covering my silhouette. There’s less and less to hide and my autumnal self becomes stronger as each season has led me to self-understanding. My symbolic leaves are frequently changing. Life has changed me.
Have you ever felt there are too many sides inside of you? Have you ever felt you don’t fit in and the requirements to be so-called normal are impossible? What if our imperfections are absolutely perfect? For instance, there’s the quiet side who speaks softly and there’s the vicious side that can inhale the sun and spew fire if need be. There’s the fearful side, likened to a fierce wild stray who sees others as the enemy. We might growl to keep someone away. As for me, one minute I can speak rose and turn the petals into magic but push me too hard and I will scratch you with my thorns. My creative side carries me in between here and there and sometimes, I can’t figure out how to return to zero. So, I stayed there. It’s usually a mystical space where candles burn upside down and clouds become the ground. I swim far and deep because I breathe better underwater than in the air. |