Healing Touch
Frieda:
I cried last week. I cried a lot - more than in recent memory. I fought it off at first. Subconsciously, I did not want to connect with the pain (and hope and resilience) I witness around me and witness within. I fought it off because I did not know. I fought it off because I am both powerless and empowered to impact change within grossly large social challenges. Craziness, I tell you, and also honoring the intensity of our reality.
Lao Tzu wrote: "A journey of one thousand miles begins with one step." Awareness is a step. Acceptance is a step. Action is a step.
I am aware my inability to cry was a suppression of pain and a suppression of belief. I am aware it was an unwillingness to engage with raw feeling because - good and bad, positive and negative, disappointed and hopeful - it is hard: Charleston, lost souls in our communities, intolerance in the media, violence of all kinds, gossip, an unwillingness to help; and also powerful stories, courageous acts, humble service and exposed vulnerability…
“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope” are the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. #YES Ready, from disappointment into hope: I cried.
I cry because I know that, for me, crying provides a release in one of the healthiest ways. It allows me to be present and of service to others. It empowers. It connects. It clarifies. It witnesses. It honors. I cry because I am not a machine. As MLK said, "We are not machines." It is when we act like machines and mute our common humanity, we get lost. We lose.
We are people - and people are people are people, people. We, people, are able to make this life free and generative. We, people, can access solutions when/if we have the courage to be aware, accepting and willing to act. We, people - all people - have the power. "Let us use this power and unite" to heal - and heal, one engagement at a time.
All I can do is be the best person I can be. All I can do is be rigorously honest with myself and others, to be of service, to empathize, to smile at strangers, to be willing and open to have crucial conversations, to cry, to laugh, to forgive and ask for forgiveness, to celebrate, to hold safe space, to hug, to speak up, to share, to step back when not desired, to respect, to dance, to be compassionate, to ask the questions, mindfully respond and mutually receive:
What do I need?
What do you need?
What do we need?
What am I willing to do?
What are you willing to do?
What can we do?
How can we be?
PEOPLE:
I am open.
I am listening.
I am willing.
How about you?
I choose awareness.
I choose acceptance.
I choose action.
I choose healing.