Healing

It is still dark outside and the last night felt chilly. But this morning the temperature says things have actually warmed a bit. It is 58 degrees fahrenheit. Today is Thursday and a holiday that some celebrate by taking time away from work.

Most people mark this as a day of giving thanks, gratitude for all of the blessings they have received, prayers for all those whose lives have been turned upside down for reasons both very personal and very global. Things are in that place right now: the place where no matter where one finds their existence to be in this moment, there is a clear need to practice the art of gratitude, along with healing.

The idea is to find the path that will bring back as much as possible, that which has been lost, forgotten, misplaced from body and soul. It happens. People get sick, people lose close friends and family, the world falls apart, and people find that they have not kept up with the self-care, self-compassion that should be a part of their daily routine. And especially when there has been a big loss, or unexpected diagnosis - this is when most remember that the constant drive toward ... (insert any word that reflects the drivers in one's life here), can bring injuries to body and spirit. Staying healthy is no easy task in today's world. Injuries and losses are not only individual, but widely shared (think pandemic).

The thing called "healing" doesn't mean full recovery back to how things were before the injury. That can never happen. But to live well with the thing that once hurt, and to deepen understanding about one's own capacity to do harm is what is central to the healing process. Losses and hurts are hard to live with and everyone has the experience of encountering both. Though a broken glass can be fixed with the right kind of glue so it can be used yet again, the crack in the glass, will still be there. How does one live? This is a question we can ask ourselves when days like today arrive.

This day, more than any other in the year, is actually an invitation to reflect on what it means to be able to heal. Heal oneself, heal the earth.

Truly see oneself, and truly see one's own part in the most difficult encounter that has affected your life.

Make reparations and don't confuse the notion of healing with the notion of curing. The processes are very different, with one suggesting internal shifts and appreciation for the hurts that helped to make you who you are today. The other suggesting there is a fix that will bring under control that which cannot be brought under control. Cures are an outcome; healing is a process.

The real medicine can come only from within. It may take more time to find the right medicine and only the one who is suffering or hurt can know when the right medicine appears. Maybe it is a pill, a surgery, a walk near water, a bath in the forest, or music that lifts the spirit. Taking it may only take a moment, or it can take years to have its effect.

The wonderful thing about most of us humans is that we have the capacity to heal. The challenge is whether we will accept the scars and how we will wear those in our lives. It's a big deal - knowing how to heal oneself. And on days when the universal energy shifts to invite soft reflection, we realize the medicine comes in all kinds of forms and places. We just have to recognize it.