…Or Allowing Some Things To Fall Apart
"Our brokenness is also the source of our common humanity, the basis for our shared search for comfort, meaning, and healing. Our shared vulnerability and imperfection nurtures and sustains our capacity for compassion." ~ Bryan Stevenson
Of late, I've experienced multiple crises- both personally and in the world at large. Besides witnessing the horrors of war and the toxicity of politics, personal challenges have included financial, legal and bureaucratic obstacles, medical ordeals, and relationship dilemmas. Most of us in the First World go through peaks and valleys. There are days we hope that the evening will end with good news on some fronts. Whether personal or global, the issues we face can feel overwhelming.
At times like these, if we can muster the energy, my husband and I race East along the windy roads to the beach, with our dog in the boot, a 20 minute drive… Our aim is to arrive by sunset, so there'll be nothing to do but take in the sea, give her our burdens…
As far as I can, I surrender.
Exhaling first… then I can inhale… As the light fades, I watch the colours appear, I can breathe more deeply…
Surrendering isn't a caving in, but trusting in a greater, benign force. A letting go into an ocean, or some might say, the 'cosmos'…
Most indigenous cultures are rooted in the land, the seasons, the Sun, Moon and Stars. Wherever we find ourselves on our planet where an aliveness animates everything, try to remember that to be vulnerable is not to break apart, but to break open, into Freedom. Practicing the Art of surrendering increases our capacity to connect with other vulnerable humans…
Exhaling, opening my senses to the energy that has always and will always be here, is a brave and necessary thing to practice.
Watching the distant horizon while sitting near a tree, witnessing a sunset, a sunrise, feeling connected to nature, being rooted in the land, sitting with a happy baby or pet… these things can make letting go a lot easier…
Society, politics, wars and the media can fracture us because they distance us from this knowing that we're connected to every living thing… whereas racing against the clock and calendar fills us with tension…
To unplug from linear time and connect with 'all our relations', as Native Americans say, is the road to feeling whole again. The truth of this ancient wisdom brings me peace.
When I remember to soften with compassion for myself, then my DNA, my very bones, know how to just BE. I stop rushing, trusting a palpable, benign intelligence is always within reach… No matter how disconnected I become, this intelligence is present…
…As is Life.
As trees relinquish their leaves in the "Fall", we can 'fall into' a sort of attunement with a rhythm that sustains us. Just as a baby feels when lying next to her mother's heart, feeling this rhythm reminds me that Life will sustain me, if I will allow it…
We could just call this meditation. Monks, Sages, Druids and Shamans all came to understand that through this heartbeat they can access the Wisdom underlying everything…
Nature has a design that brings comfort… when we can trust that the intelligence animates plants, animals, minerals…
…creates ALL things…
David Attenborough spent his life showing us the underlying beauty in nature's intelligence, this Grand Design. Though a biologist and a scientist, he also points to the spirit in all living things…
Allowing our five senses to deepen, we begin to trust in this intelligent design.
When my world feels shattered or chaotic, knowing this anchors and sustains me.
I'm not suggesting giving up or giving in, but trusting in a giant, pulsing safety net… Much like the underground mycelial networks connecting all living things…
Energy is what makes us alive, so there has to energy between us…
Breathing in energy like oxygen, invisible filaments are running between us and all other beings…
Beginning now, redirecting my focus as often as possible, I learn to rely on this animating force…
…& to surrender.
Main – Photos by Catriona O'Curry
About the Author: Catriona O'Curry
