Recently, I participated in a silent meditation retreat. There was space to feel all the post-pandemic feels: Loss, sadness, gratitude, fear, love (and more).
During the retreat, I heard a poem written by former US poet laureate, Joy Harjo. Here are a few powerful lines:
“Call your spirit back. It may be caught in the corners and creases of shame, judgment, and human abuse.
You must call in a way that your spirit will want to return.
Speak to it as you would to a beloved child.
Welcome your spirit back from its wandering. It may return in pieces, in tatters. Gather them together. They will be happy to be found after being lost for so long.”
We’re all calling our spirits back; pulling together our tatters and making them whole; inviting ourselves to live more fully.
We’ve experienced stunning grief, stress, and difficulty.
Yet our spirit wants to return. So, how do we cultivate joy? How do we let go of pain?
Get outside
Make art
Laugh and dance with friends
Make and share food
Check in with your neighbors
Rest as much as you play
Be kind to yourself
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