We Are Heartbroken, Not Broken*
From the Human Rights Commission*
Bottom line?
I have nothing much to say.
Haaaa!
What a counterproductive way to open a blog,
Probably not taught in the how-to-write-a-blog college.
Nevertheless, I’m compelled to say it.
It’s been a strange week.
I feel both emptied
And full,
Depending
On
The
Moment.
I flippy-flopped my way
Through these series of days.
From numb to glum,
From glum to heartbroken.
From heartbroken to
Terrified,
And on I sailed.
Through every human emotion
And circling back, again.
Yesterday was the strangest—
I have never (I think) been
So scrambled in my brain,
Truly and fully unable to focus.
But/and—it changed.
It changes.
It always changes.
The bible,
About which I know
Mostly nothing,
Says:
It came to pass.
It did not say:
It came to stay!
Right?
Feelings come and go.
Feelings, oh, dear friends,
Are not the problem.
Oh NOOOOO.
It’s what we do to try to control them.
To push them away.
To pull them toward us.
To judge ourselves for having them.
That’s when we veer off the course
Interrupting
Their possible and hopefully eventual
Integration.
Integration meaning
The moving
Of feelings and sensations
Through the body/mind.
Feelings are energies
Moving in our bodies,
So the yogis say.
I can testify—
I’m one
Exhausted citizen
This week,
From
Riding the wave
Of all the up’s and downs,
And in’s and out’s of my
Tapdancing mind
And my
Shaky
Body.
~~~
What helped?
The most helpful?
Teaching in R&R.
Showing up
Within
My purpose,
My reason
For being.
That brought
Me back
To earth,
To our solid,
Glorious,
Almost-freezing
Earth
and
Cool
Delicious
Fall
Air.
~~~
I repeat what I said last week—
I believe it even more today:
Whatever you do to take care of yourself,
Do it now.
Whatever you practice,
Practice it now.
Whatever you feel,
Feel it now.
Whatever you believe,
Believe it now.
Whomever you love,
Love them now.
~~~
And music! Yes, to music. Here’s another good one from Playing for Change, bringing together so many musicians from around the world to make extraordinary music together.
Here is War/No More Trouble, the 1973 song by Bob Marley and the Wailers, featuring Bono and an extraordinary gaggle of musicians from around our glorious planet:
~~~
From Bob Marley to Yogananda, there’s a perfect poetic leap, Aruni. Perhaps the first time their names have been paragraph-to-paragraph-cozy?
Paramahansa Yogananda was the Indian-American Hindu monk, yogi and guru who introduced millions to meditation and Kriya Yoga. He brought yoga and meditation to the West—talk about dharma!
Listen to him—these words speak directly to this moment:
Your trials did not come to punish you.
They came to awaken you.
Friends, this is ours.
This time.
This moment.
This uncertainty.
We are meant to be
Right here
Right now.
Breathe and relax.
Take care of yourselves.
Dear Friends,
We are here to be awakened.
We are here to open our hearts.
We are here to bear witness.
May the circumstances we are given
Awaken us.
May the circumstances we are given open our hearts.
And may all beings benefit from our awakening.
May all beings benefit from our opening hearts.
Peace,
Aruni
~~~
*The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is the largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization in the United States. It envisions a world where every member of the LGBTQ+ family has the freedom to live their truth without fear, and with equality under the law. Sounds like a plan!