Dragonfly in the Sand
In times of tragedy, what is the balance between bearing witness and self-preservation? Megan Lierley (in The Good Trade – December 5, 2023).
Mindful of how important it is to maintain a high frequency as I navigate life, especially in my interactions with others, a question rose in me as I rose into this day: How do I maintain peace within and broadcast love when I’ve observed or when I’m discussing a particular event around which I hold judgement?
In essence, the question is similar to the challenge I posed here a couple weeks back (click here to revisit My Thanksgiving Prayer): maintaining inner peace as we witness horrific events and the choices of others with whom we do not agree.
Pausing, taking a breath, engaging gratitude are strong practices to help meet the challenge. But ‘what else?’ I wondered as I built the morning fire to break the chill that crept into the house overnight.
I recalled a recent conversation when a friend shared that she finds herself fascinated by “the ways some people are choosing to express themselves these days.” Her comment reframed judgement and called forth curiosity, another path to peace within.
As I began to think about a focus for today’s Pivot my wondering shifted: ‘Is this what wants to be shared?’ Before beginning to write I popped online to check our local weather guy’s website and the day’s forecast and, uncharacteristically, scanned through my email inbox. A particular subject line, How to Mindfully Consume Difficult News, caught my eye.
Scanning through the article, I felt a sense of guidance and affirmation. Yes, this IS today’s Pivot. For indeed this IS a time for mindful choices, for care of self, for feeling what we feel while tapping into our heart’s knowing so that in our walk through the world, we maintain a sense of peace and project that peace into our chaotic world. While the article addresses primarily practices for staying informed through various news media, at its core, it’s about maintaining inner peace. You can read the article here.
How might our world pivot with more mindful choices about how we stay informed and how we communicate with others around the information we are discovering? How do we/I BE as witness events and choices which we find horrific and even those with which we simply disagree? Perhaps musing such questions can bring us to more mindful choices and support us to walk through the world more peacefully, broadcasting from the spectrum of love. And perhaps in our individual answers we strengthen our ability to restore and maintain peace within, for surely love and care rise from that place.
Snowy Peaks to the South