KEY POINTS
- Finding balance is important when we’re faced with challenges.
- There are many ways to initiate a grounding practice, such as through meditation and writing.
- Reading and writing poetry can be a powerful way to keep us in the moment.
Life has seemed particularly stormy lately. Between the crisis in the Middle East, and personal and universal struggles, many people feel strained and/or at the end of their ropes.
Change as a Gift
As we travel through change, it’s a good time to see both its beauty and its gift, which can help us persevere. When I am grieving or feeling sad, I usually turn to poetry because of its healing nature and how grounding it can be. In her work, poet Mary Oliver often wrote about sorrow as being a gift. I agree, and I find her poetry offers solace during challenging times. Here’s a short and poignant poem of hers, which she dreamed in her sleep. Hopefully, it will prompt your own writing:
The Uses of Sorrow
Someone I loved once
gave me a box full of darkness.
It took me years to understand that
this too, was a gift.
Finding Balance
If you’ve lived as many decades as I have, you will attest to the fact that life is laden with serenity and storms, which, as Oliver says can be burdens or gifts, depending on how we carry them. Our ability to survive life’s ebbs and flows is highly dependent on how we’re able to find balance between the two extremes and maintain a sense of equilibrium.
My ability to find balance is often challenged by my being an empath. I easily feel and react to the intense pain of others. While being an empath is aligned with other, more useful traits such as being creative and intuitive, I easily get bogged down by other people’s challenges. This is where my creative passion for writing can be a savior.
Connecting with Others
In addition, I’ve found that when so many shifts are taking place at once, it’s often a good time to connect with others so we don’t feel alone. With this in mind, I held an…
