If Only...

Last updated on Nov 10, 2023

Artwork by Tu-2

Beauty in the air. Clear skies, and temperature sits at 56 degrees fahrenheit. Today is Friday (and for some, a "holiday" - Veteran's Day).

Beautiful words fill pages and rooms. The end of the world as we know it, continues to play out in the lives of many, both here and in other parts of the planet. No beauty found in many places as both natural and human disasters continue to unfold.

If only we could really learn from the past. If only we could understand our relations. If only we could stop ourselves from taking up convenience over compassion. If only...

I am thankful for those who have started to recognize that the connections among us are vital. It has been a month of moving between actual life and death tending to aged parents; and being in relationship with people of all ages, bringing varied gifts, coming together to affirm the truth at the center of life: love.

And the coming together has not been only in the moment, but the vibration of the encounters has had ripple effects. Those ripples have allowed for connection across time/space and it is impressive to be able to see how all the realizations are happening at once:

People feeling an internal calling to commune - whether in grief, in joy, in reunion;
People seeing that the only real currency that lasts is not money, but relationship;
People yearning to reach across time as among elders (over 60) and youth (under 60) to share wisdom, insight, updates in living in these times;
People recognizing that we had it wrong: earth doesn't belong to us, we belong to her - what to do now?
People feeling a deep sense of wanting to be in service - how much more can each of us do?
People agreeing to be in circle with complete strangers - not for reasons of therapy, but solely for wanting to practice the skill of listening;
People finding courage to face the fact that we are deeply interconnected - inextricably so and therefore, we live in a time of all for one; one for all is the survival path.

So much more to add to this list, but these are the things that bubble up into early morning consciousness today.

Last night, in a healing circle that was in the southland, the beauty of grief showed itself. Beginning the heart round, tears, sadness, hopelessness. After a mere 90 minutes things shifted. The medicine of being in the healing circle showed up - people left with smiles on their faces; nothing in life had changed but the magic of being in circle with no therapy, just open hearts and stillness in listening opened the unseen door that shifted things. The pain was a little less. It was recognized. The recognition: pain is the only way to know the possibility of joy.

If only we could bring together innumerable circles, without the need for strategies, objectives, goals. Just circles that naturally flow from a small stone that causes one ripple after another. We could all accept the truth of pain in life so much more readily. If only.