I saw an image once that really struck me, from a hurricane in Texas. It was of two women—one was crying, and the other woman was holding the face of the crying woman.
The feeling I got from the photo was:
We’ve got to be strong here
We’ve got to keep up here
We can get through this
Keep moving forward
I’m with you here
You are not alone.
I have that image in my mind of that woman holding that woman’s face and I believe that we are all both of those women. And so I encourage you and I invite you to nourish both women. They live within you, they live within me.
We are grieving and we are powering through
We are nourishing and we are doing the work
We are breathing in
We are breathing out.
I was looking through some videos that I had made for Annapurna Living. It was like looking at old photographs. It felt like so long ago, and looking at it, I could feel the hope that I had at that time.
I still do have that hope, but I feel like the times we’re living in right now—what’s happening in the world, all the things that we’re dealing with, all the things that are happening to people—it really is a lot to hold. And I can feel for myself the wearing down, the heaviness, the weariness.
I’m sharing this because I’m sure many other people are all feeling the same way. There’s just so much going on and we are seeing so much of what’s happening. We’re seeing it in a new way because we’re able to see everything with social media and news and the internet. It’s a lot for us to hold.
We want to be compassionate. I know I do. I want to be helpful, and I want to be thoughtful, and I want to be generous and find ways to be supportive; then I have this deep feeling that we need to keep steady and hold the light as though our lives depend on it.
I say that with fierceness right now. The weariness is there—it’s acknowledged, it’s cared for, it’s nourished. And then the fierceness comes in and says ‘I’ll take care of this.’
Coming into this month, I feel that I need more discipline; I need direction and focus and clarity. I don’t want to waste time. I feel like I need a plan. I need to bring in that Fierce Grace I speak about so often.
The divine feminine is fierce, she is not complacent. We have a lot to carry as women. We are so compassionate; we care so much, and we feel so much.
We feel the burdens of this world in our hearts, and we carry them on our backs, and I just wanted to say I’m feeling it too. It’s so important to take care of ourselves right now by really nourishing ourselves, and what’s coming through for me is how essential it is to create really strong systems that I can lean on.
My systems are:
Meditation
Waking up early so I can get things done
Eating well
Sleeping well
Moving my body
Connecting to like minded soulful awake people
(You know, the stuff that flies out the window when we feel stressed and worried.)
We can keep up. We can keep going. We can take care of ourselves and be fierce and be soft and be graceful and be strong and be true and full-on. We can be all of it.
We just need to know when to back off and take a break, and when to step forward. That’s the dance right?
These times need me and they need you.
They need us.
Us light warriors, the pissed-off-and-not-going-to-be-silent warriors.
We will rise up, because if we don’t we will decay into the dark.
How do we rise?
We keep shining
We listen
We act
We give
We connect
We insist that we grow
We face our own stuff
We keep on keeping up.
There are so many places you can give financially. Find something that aligns with your heart and give what you can.
Then look around you and find ways to be of service.
Ways to be that change we all know must happen.
Don’t let these trying times paralyze you with sadness and despair.
The world needs us.
