It doesnt matter whether you talk to people who work in social justice and mental health and abuse and neglect, what we know is that connection, the ability to feel connected, is -- neurobiologically thats how were wired -- its why were here. ... When you ask people about love, they tell you about heartbreak. When you ask people about belonging, theyll tell you their most excruciating experiences of being excluded. And when you ask people about connection, the stories they told me were about disconnection. ... This is what I have found: to let ourselves be seen, deeply seen, vulnerably seen; to love with our whole hearts, even though theres no guarantee -- and thats really hard, and I can tell you as a parent, thats excruciatingly difficult -- to practice gratitude and joy in those moments of terror, when were wondering, Can I love you this much? Can I believe in this this passionately? Can I be this fierce about this? just to be able to stop and, instead of catastrophizing what might happen, to say, Im just so grateful, because to feel this vulnerable means Im alive. And the last, which I think is probably the most important, is to believe that were enough. Because when we work from a place, I believe, that says, Im enough, then we stop screaming and start listening, were kinder and gentler to the people around us, and were kinder and gentler to ourselves.
Posted on: Fri, 20 Jun 2014 22:18:23 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015