As a collective consciousness, we stand together. We’re in the thick of it now. Covid is knocking on our friend’s doors and maybe on our doors. The bleak winter pressing in on our warmth. We are limited in actions and warned with often conflicting messages. Greed and manipulation abound around us and suffering is everywhere. The world feels dark and foreboding and yet here we are in a community of love, supported and included. We buoy each other. We persevere and remain steadfast because we have touched on the truth, the real truth that lies underneath the rubble of the world. Every breath we take we choose to see truth, to feel truth and be truth. Truth abounds in an energy of love.
How can we love the Covid virus? How can we love the political mayhem? How can we love a chronic illness or pain and suffering? We can’t love those things. We love humanity who experiences it. We love ourselves. We practice gentle kindness and respect as we weather whatever storm we are facing.
By treating our self with loving respect and kindness, we never go without what we deeply desire, to be cared for, respected and gentled into comfort. We set the example. We speak the comforting words. We respect our needs. We advocate for ourselves by being a loving presence to our self. It all begins there.
Losing my way will happen. Luckily, I know my pathway towards home and recognize the doorway. Fears and worries block my vision and sound convincingly real. I hold my question like a shield and face my fear or worry by asking are you fact or fear?
With this inquiry, I can interrogate each worry and sort out what’s real and what’s fear. I learned to sort out the facts and the worries through years of practice caring for my daughter. Fears and worries cloud my perception, muddy my direction and most importantly, worry takes away my ability to be present for myself and especially for those I love needing my attention.
I know when I want to share something that is dear to me, it’s so important to be listened to by someone who is fully present, not half there fidgeting with something else or multi-tasking. The power of presence is a gift, an honorable gift to give someone you love, to give yourself.
Be there for you. Be there for them. Do the best you can as you weather these storms.
The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life
Participants’ Reflections:
At the start of the meditation, it was announced that one of our group members was diagnosed with Covid.
I am sending prayers and Reiki energy to you NOW. I have several close to me recovering from Covid. You WILL too. Love and Light to you.
Sending healing energy and love!
During the meditation, I was picturing all of us standing in a circle, without masks, in a big open field on a gorgeous sunny warm day. We took each other’s hands one by one, passing buzzing energy between us. And we all came together and closed the circle and created a ball of energy that was sent to our group member as support and strength and the love of this community.
Thank you, that was powerful. During the meditation, I had myself sit in front of me. I could feel my body vibrating as I had the thought ‘who am I’. I felt the love for myself that usually feels elusive. I could feel the sadness that came up constricting my throat, and at the same time feeling the joy. My face smiled. And I thought, what do I do with these two feelings, do I choose to go to the pain or to the joy? I had a sense, blend them, have them both together. This way I don’t get batted back and forth with the duality. It was powerful. There was a moment where I questioned if this is real, and I felt myself sit back inside my body. The meditation ended and it was a sign that this is real, I took the time I needed, and this is complete and supported by the universe.
I was thinking about how our group member waves to people on his morning walk, we can wave to him sending our love and prayers, and are glad he joins us every morning so we can share our love.
During the meditation, I was praying for our group member. I will keep doing that and send you healing thoughts and comfort and that you have everything you need, and that your immune system is in there fighting away.
Someone I know watched a documentary that the man Jesus did not exist. That it’s an archetype or fable, that there were hundreds of people that fit that story. I pulled out my book The Hero of a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. I realized it doesn’t matter if there was an individual human being called Jesus because we are Jesus. We are the embodiment of Jesus. We are the embodiment of consciousness. Like the cells of the body are the body. I look at these Zoom blocks, we are one body. We are not alone; we are with you in body.
Thank you. Since the first of the year, one of my new daily practices is to read Rumi every day. I received a Rumi deck of cards. I’ve been studying Rumi as a mystic and have sat with him a lot. I feel stripped down to my heart with Rumi and everything else disappears, I’m just in my heart. During the meditation, that’s what I felt, just heart energy. Sending heart energy to everyone and sending it to our group member. Thank you.
Thank you. I could feel the love. What got to me today is fact or fear. I’ve had a nasty cough since Wednesday. I was tested yesterday and I won’t know the results for a couple of days. It’s easy to get into that fear place. A friend brought me medicine. I am quarantining. It makes me realize how much contact I have with people, on walks. It’s wonderful to know I am supported.
Sending healing power through you as well.
Just keep talking to us, keep communicating. Let’s do this together. I’m strong enough to hold the knowledge, to hold the love. It’s why I had my daughter. A psychologist told me that my daughter needed someone to kick against because she was terrified. I was it. Love gives us strength for that. Thank the Universe for calming breath.
Thank you, that was a powerful reading. I love all the thoughts about being present, how we are present for each other. We are present in sharing our strength for each other to help each other along. Ultimately, that’s how we get through life, helping each other one step at a time. It makes a difference. Thank you for all the work you do. Thank you all for participating. And for being vulnerable. It’s easy to think we have to share it behind a closed door because who shares that, but it’s a part of who we are.
Thank you. Very powerful and meaningful. I distilled it to a couple of phrases. Being in the thick of it really resonated. It’s taken being at this point for me to feel it. It just feels that everywhere I look, it’s a different place, a different experience. Knowing people are struggling with Covid more and more is also a factor. I also resonated with the complicity of what you said and that one way to be with this as opposed to being overwhelmed is gentleness. Being gentle and kind with oneself, and to start from that place and move outwards because one will be able to move outward differently. During the meditation, I spent my time on those thoughts breathing in releasing the guilt and shame that get in my way.
During my meditation, I was thinking that we’ve done this over 280 days. And what practice we have for being with ourselves and being steady for ourselves, for the ups and downs, for the pain and joy, for the discovering what silence has to offer, what we have to offer ourselves. I’m grateful for that.
We have pathways to ourselves, pathways to each other. We have pathways and doorways and resources and comforting modes of giving to ourselves. We use those to help. I bless you all. I love this group. I feel love for each one of you. It’s an incredible feeling. I hope you have a gentle day, take care of yourselves, and be mindful of the gentleness you deserve.