I am here.
“We are the most ordinary miracle”
“Let it become easier”
“We carry within us the stories of our ancestors”
This spring, my body has an impulse to be known. To take up space. A witnessing. Though there are many words, stories, and books inside of me, I have a need to not say too much. To share a hello, and to say I am here, tending to myself and tending to my community. What do you need?
The last 5 years have been painful, beyond words. So much community aching. Racialized stress. A fog. Eroding of our environment, democracy, safety, and trust. Heightened harm under white body supremacy culture. The sickness and dying of an infinite and expansiveness of human beings, of loved ones and strangers. Collective grief. Exacerbated levels of trauma. It is so much to take in, to understand, to witness, and to engage.
We are in spring, and there is much I do not know about the world… and yet it is wise and forgiving. We have been fed lies about the worthiness of ourselves, and each other. I have ingrained lies about who I am, and who I will become- as you may have too. They show up as “I'm not doing good enough, I didn't meet my goals, or I've let someone down,” constant berating that I am exhausted by.
My practice is to return over and over, to what my self-doubt can offer, to where I am held, and to noticing: What IS working? What feels good? Where is love around me? Trusting.
May we bring in gentleness, and allow for a little more ease for where we are at, and how we are doing during this moment we are in with each other. May we tend to ourselves, and be held, again and again.
In care.
Originally posted in Issue 6 of Collective Wisdom, a well-being magazine about conscious, purposeful living inspired by nature, founded by Rebecca Lefebvre. To learn more and order your copy, please visit collectivewisdommagazine.com or call 303-775-9768.