Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like the daily disasters are getting progressively worse. All we have to do is turn on the news and see the trauma du jour. And they are all bad. Terrible. Each day worse than the day before.
It’s hard on everyone, and especially for us sensitive types that are very tuned into the pain and suffering of the world. To me, it feels like getting punched in the gut over and over again.
It’s made me observe how we deal with the bad things that happen in the world and with each other. In my job as a counselor and energy healer, I hear stories all day long of the crazy, horrible things that people endure in their lives. Hardly anyone comes to see me for a session because everything is peachy keen.
So how do we handle it?
How can we sustain ourselves in the face of recurring disasters, breakdowns, human rights violations, war, terror attacks, and mind numbing tragedy of mass shootings without going numb?
Do we lose our ability to hold empathy after so much as happened? Do we numb out and feed our addictions?
What happens inside of us when disasters happen faster than we can process?
I notice a tendency in myself to withdraw from the news and head inwards towards the center of myself. I snuggle on the couch, play with my dog, and take long walks in the woods. I go to ballroom dance classes three times a week and leave feeling joyful, albeit with blisters on my feet.
One of my students asked me the other day how I keep doing healing work day after day, and that is the answer.
When I have stared too much into the Dark, I find a way to look into the Light.
Change is upon us and it seems that the Dark is rising. And yet I know the Light is just as a strong and must also rise up to meet the Dark. There is a balance here.
(The Light. The Dark. The Balance. It’s a Jedi thing!)
When we show up, grounded and with compassion in our hearts in the face of someone else suffering, we add our Light to the world. I do it in my healing work with my clients, but I can also create more Light just by hanging out in the woods with my dog, or on the dance floor in the energy and passion of the Tango. (My fave!)
Don’t feel bad or guilty about looking into the Light during these Dark times. We need it to survive the rising shadow.
There are times for passionate protests and to take action.
Sometimes we need to pray, mourn, cry and light candles.
And when that is done, perhaps we need to go the museum and take in beauty until our souls are full of it. We need to turn our gaze back to the Light.
Perhaps your way is by making or viewing art. Riding your motorcycle down the back roads and seeing the foliage. Playing with your kids. Even watching the Patriots win a football game. We need to be in the Light more then we are in the Dark. Be with your people and play.
What brings you the Light?
What soothes your soul?
Do more of that.
And then when we need to be present for the next inevitable disaster; we will be ready, full of energy, full of Light.
Maybe if we spend enough time in the Light we can chase away this rising Dark.
I believe we can.
Remember YOU are the Light.
And you are also the Dark. What’s unconscious in you adds to the Dark, you have that same split inside you that we see in the world. (The Light, the Dark and the Balance.)
When you choose your inner Light it helps the world. When you take your anger, fear and hatred out the Darkness of your inner shadow to find healthy acceptance and expressions of it- the Light also wins.
Choose the Light every time you can.
