Episode 10, Tea Time Behind the Curtain
In this week’s Tea Time video a talk about how to hold the tension of the beauty and wonder of the holiday season with the hardship of the world.
The contrast is striking, particularly as the mythology of the culture is for everything to be sparkle and light. And when it isn’t? If can be even harder to find solid ground to sink into.
I have been thinking and feeling a lot lately about how to hold the paradox of living in both an amazingly beautiful world and a disturbingly troubled world.
How do I, do we, keep ourselves present and open hearted in the face of overwhelming pain and injustice and suffering? I wish I had a brilliant answer. What I do have are my tiny rituals and practices that return me to myself when I start getting overwhelmed by the world.
I make a cup of tea. It allows me a time out to get my breath back.
I bake. It returns me to the essential and life affirming energy of nourishing myself and those I love.
I knit. The repetition soothes my nervous system so I can respond rather than react.
I observe the every present beauty of nature. This brings me present and reminds me that the natural world knows how to deal with strife and hardship.
Once I have returned to myself, then I can find my courage to respond rather than react.
I can truly hear what is wanting to be understood. I can hold the paradox of pain and beauty. Wonder and struggle. Brutality and compassion. I can summon my courage instead my hurt and pain.
I wish I had better answers. But until I do I will continue to use the wonder of the world to lead forward, even as I allow the pain of the world a place in my heart. When I can honor both, then I can then be the force of healing and growth.