I am always surprised when friends apologize for being in a
bad mood, or sharing their life challenges when I bump into them, as though
there is something wrong with sharing our difficulties with each other.
This is
yet another example of the bullshit world we have created in, where we are only
acceptable to each other if we share good news.
I often wonder if we are
resistant to other’s bad news because we are trying to bypass our own
difficulties. Whatever it is, this has to shift.
We aren’t going to co-create a
genuinely positive world until we can hold the space for each other’s shadow.
Better an authentic frown than an inauthentic smile any day. A smile that is
built on a pretentious foundation isn’t a smile at all.
I know we often want it happy and positive, but that’s just
not where much of humanity is. Many of us are overwhelmed with pain, undigested
sadness, unexpressed anger, unseen truths. This is where we are at, as a
collective. So we have two choices.
We can continue to pretend it’s not there,
cover it over, shame and shun it in ourselves and others, distract and detach
whenever possible.
Or, we can face it heart-on, own it within ourselves, look
for it in others with compassion, and create a culture that is focused on
authenticity and healthy emotional release.
If we continue to push it all down,
we are both creating illness, and delaying our collective expansion.
But if we
can just own the shadow, express it, release it, love each other through it we
can finally graduate from the School of Heart Knocks and begin to enjoy this
magnificent life as we were intended. Pretending the pain isn’t there just
embeds it further.
Let’s illuminate it instead.
The path of life is not soft and sweet.
It is not
artificially blissful and feigned forgiving.
It is not fearful of divisiveness.
It is not afraid of its own shadow.
It is not afraid of losing popularity when
it speaks its truth.
It will not beat around the bush where directness is
essential.
It has no regard for vested interests that cause suffering.
It is
benevolent and it is fiery and it is cuttingly honest in its efforts to
liberate itself and humanity from the ego ties that bind.
Ordinary life is the miracle, as it is the mundane and the
everyday.
Every joy, every pain, every moment of profound doubt is none other
than that which we have always sought.
No special revelation is required here.
We never need to wait for grace. This blessing cannot be transmitted by special
beings taught by enlightened gurus, bought or sold. It is simpler, closer, more
freely available, and more intimate.
Namaste
ps/smoh
love light and peace
