As the world continues to burn (literally and figuratively) and genocides all over the globe march forth (including here in the US), it is important that we both witness, feel the suffering and grief of others in far away lands, those closer to home, ourselves, and remember we are dynamic, multitudinous, and complex beings who can hold multiple truths, feelings, and even realities at once.
It is important for us not to turn away, and to grieve with the collective (including the plants and animals) of the earth, and it is also important to remember, to revive, to embrace (maybe even cling to) the beauty this planet and all its inhabitants contain and express.
It is vital we acknowledge the trauma we are experiencing, that is being stirred in the deep wells of our own ancestral history, to process it, to metabolize it, and it is also vital to acknowledge the resilience we carry in our bones and marrow and sinew.
We are physiologically capable of laughing and crying at the same time. Of being deep within grief and finding joy in the what is, what was, what may become, in the same moments. We are capable of both reaching out and going deep within in the same breath.
It is as important to witness heartache and trauma as it is heartbursting excitement and healing. To be in the presence of unimaginable pain and spine tingling pleasure. To embrace as many different facets and seemingly contradictory aspects of ourselves, of others, of the planet, of the universe, as possible.
Some of us have been in the trenches, doing this deep healing work, for ourselves, our ancestors and children, the collective, the planet, for years, even decades. Some of us have been aware of the atrocities and brutality humans can inflict our entire lives. Some of us are not shocked nor surprised by any of the horrors that are being revealed every hour. Some of us have been in the work of healing others and this planet for years.
And some have not.
Some are just becoming aware of how wretched the oppressive systems actually are, have been, will continue to be. For some this is all shocking. Unnerving. Disorienting. For some what is being revealed is
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Embodied Relating to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.