A Practice in Compassion

What I’m  Currently Pondering….

I work and breathe in the world of holistic wellness - lately mostly on the Spiritual side of it. At the moment, I am feeling deep dissonance when I hear talk of our current situation in the context of a grand spiritual scheme created to bring about changes we’ve needed for so long  - as if we are now in a situation to be grateful for. I’m not here. 

A Practice in compassion

In the midst of our current situation, where hundreds of thousands around the world have died, where many more are at death’s door, and still  more will walk this road; 

Where caregivers and those who support our living continue to put their lives at risk  - to leave their loved ones to serve us, and isolate themselves from their families in service to us all;

Where we ourselves are isolating;

Compassion calls for loving action - toward ourselves and toward others.

My heart aches and moves with loving compassion - outwards toward all of the suffering - mostly experienced alone.  

My heart moves inward - into the accompanying grief and loss experienced by families, friends, colleagues, communities, and beyond.  

And so, I’m having a hard time with the barrage of sharing I’m seeing all around me about how this is supposed to “cleanse our world” in some great spiritual sense. I’m not there, and most people I know are not there  either. Let me explain further.

Individually, and as a community, we need time to process and grieve. We need time to receive Compassion’s embrace. Yes, there is much to learn from this pandemic experience - as an individual, as a community, as a collective. However, right now, we need to be present, move through, and beyond this time and experience. Let’s not rush this process. Let’s take the time to become whole again and make decisions that serve us to be better versions of ourselves.

Perhaps you hold a view of a higher purpose in this suffering. I understand where you are coming from and why that might feel right and good, and how this belief may be helping you to process this immense event.  

However, we are in the experience together - now.  Let’s stay in the experience and allow ourselves to feel our way through it. Let’s not  escape into the ethers right now and talk about spiritual cleansing or something similar,  because I would argue that it’s just too close, too soon, too raw, too in our face. 

It feels like being bombarded with a bit of “higher than thou” to hear about “the gifts” of this time while people are suffering and experiencing loss. It’s a bit like being at a funeral and people saying it was “meant to be” or “they are in a better place now”. It feels a bit  insensitive and hurtful. 

So, I’m asking to please....Pause… and,

Above All, Practice Compassion.  

Allow yourself to “be with” another - not “be above” another.  I don’t mean to suffer with another, I mean to practice compassion by  offering your kindness, smiles, peace, and supportive gestures of goodwill and love. 

Yes, please lift spirits by your actions. And, please, do not say it's for our own good. 

Not now. Not yet. Maybe not ever. These are not words of compassion.

What this time means is a conclusion for each person  to come to on their own, from their own journey, and on their own terms.  It’s not for us to say. 

We’re here to Love.

Let’s practice. And, when we get it wrong, let’s pick ourselves up and practice some more.

In Loving Compassion, 

Jo Ann