How do we prevent
the shoulders from collapsing
into our fatigued hearts?
Tired of being disappointed –
Afraid that the next blow will
break what’s already brittle.
We disengage.
We say No to Sorrow, No to Joy.
We say No to Pain, No to Life.
Perhaps,
we don’t need to prevent Sorrow
from entering our hearts.
Maybe it would suffice to allow Sorrow
to be a natural current that
flows in and out like the breath.
It’s not that we falter under the weight
of Sorrow; we grow tired of carrying it,
when it was always meant to be let go.
What if instead we found a way
to be at peace, to accept –
to invite Sorrow back into our lives?
When we feel hurt, rejected,
abandoned, disappointed, attacked.
Ready to close off and disconnect.
We straighten the spin,
open the shoulders,
expand the chest.
Breathing in fully,
without force; letting go
completely, without clinging.
Reaching our hearts towards the sky.
A wave, a softening, a welcoming –
that lets us know: we are alive
in the wake of our forgetfulness.
And in this letting go,
in this surrender, perhaps Joy
can flow more freely.
Dancing through the wounds
of our hearts, filling them with mercy,
compassion – for ourselves, for one another.
Would we not be so tired anymore
of dragging around our hearts
in constant need of protection?
Would life be no longer a chore,
but an opportunity to find grace in every Sorrow,
find beauty in every tragedy?
Opening our hearts to Sorrow,
can we learn to accept it as an expression
of the Universal Love, which we are all made of?
Perhaps the only obstacle is our forgetfulness.
So let us remember to invite Sorrow back into our lives.
May we remember what it’s like –
To be fully alive before we die –
Saying Yes to Sorrow, Yes to Joy.
Yes to Pain, Yes to Life.
