Caring - healing

Sylvia, when I 1st started the Passing pod, someone posted some very wise words which I never forgot and have found to be very precious. I cannot remember exactly how they were said - but the meaning was something like this:

one does not heal.
it’s not about healing.
its about a journey one takes.

The thinking is; it’s not an illness to be sad, in mourning or whatever other sorrow we feel. We experience our earth shattering sorrow - and journey with it.
Nothing stays the same….
everything is a journey/lesson

very precious journeys to you, dear Sylvia

Lovely blog post, Syl. And I appreciate Hummingbird’s sentiment, and have immense respect for her deep and wise soul. She is full of compassion and kindness and I aspire to be more like her. (Did you know that, dear Hummingbird?;)

Perhaps she and I differ in that I believe people do heal, people do recover. In fact, I know they do, or at least that I do and have (and still have along way to go). The way i see it is that the journey aspect is what we heal while upon–or not. Indeed, it is a healing journey we are offered in this life. And yes, we can facilitate or be the catalyst of and for the healing journeys of the self and others.

As for earth shattering sorrow, most time it is not an illness to be sad, especially in regards to grief from the death of a loved one. But when one lives with clinical depression, for example, and cries for no reason each and every day and can barely function in the world without the right medication, it can be immensely helpful to embrace this as a disorder or illness or extreme mind-state, (the latter of which is more pc on Gaia). I live with someone who openly embraces the label of depression in order to be at peace with himself and to have access to things which help him. The words, ‘It is easy for me to say” come to mind when I think of sadness vs. depression. Big distinction to be made there. Ripe for rich discussion and debate, even.

This is real tricky ground and because I am married to someone who lives and sometmes struggles greatly with depression, I am recently recommited to a self-care plan for myself on my healing–or self-care–journey. I also have a brother in rehab for the first time for his alcohol addiction that has plagued the whole family for decades. So it is off to Al-Anon meetings and a support group for family members. I’m serious about my self-care plan! To hell with winter and snow storms, I am coming out and shedding the cloak of social isolation and blues and ill-health I sometimes feel i am surrounded with!  I will not “go this alone: anymore!

Everything is indeed a lesson and lately I am learning about the dangers of being socially isolated and am thus turning away from that scenario stat! We are social animals and need to be interdependent upon each other. We are community! Thus the care packages Sylvia so thoughtfully created and us Gaians pulling together as a community to send prayers to Peace Seeker and her husband Murray, and however else we connect as community.

Thank you both for being such a warm, loving part of what makes us community committed toward health–and yes, healing! Now, off for some self-care like a shower and baking cookies and playing music to sing along with and express the joy of my heart and soul.

Much love and joy to yours,

Mary

Mary, thank you for your kind embracing of me. I understand what you mean by healing and love Sylvia’s Care Packages pod, I’m sorry if my words were disrespectful or uncaring. I guess what I mean by not needing to heal is that in essence we are
not unhealthy. But we have obscurations which make us perceive things
in such a way they appear to be unhealthy. And certainly this means we will not be well and will need to take steps toward healing. For me this is what our life journey is all about. No one is here (except the great teachers) who is ‘well’ and we all walk our path to healing - or to our true essence. - depending on which angle we look from.
Mmm, I understand when you say, ’real tricky ground’. You are contending with a lot! You are taking a very important step by ‘not going it alone’. We are interdependent and love is the thing we thrive on. I have the sense you’re moving very strongly into love. When we are in the thick of contending with very real challenges, semantics and theories become weightless and have no place. What I feel from both you and Sylvia is you are contending like spiritual warriors, facing real dangers and being very courageous.
Thank you for this very real sharing. Thank you Sylvia too - you invite such integrity and are inspirational

much love

“I find the place of sorrow and the depths of the soul holy in their own right - without a need to shift”
This is something I resonate with so strongly. Everything is sacred - which means sorrow is included. What I find is anything can lead to precious and sacred insight or truth - from contemplating an old shoe to teachings from a chosen teacher (all things and beings being teachers). For some reason we often learn most effectively from suffering and I have found on my own journey that the deepest sorrow can be transformed to rivers of nectar.

It’s all a journey, isnt it? Guru Life teaches us what we most need in the perfect way for us. And chooses lessons we’d never have guessed are coming! (sign of a good teacher:).  Biig hug to you and Mary, fellow path walkers

sometimes we trip and find ourselves bang, crash, squarely on our behinds! :) This is when its wonderful to have friends who extend a hand, helping us onto our feet again… not to say we cannot help ourselves up too - but it is soo comforting to have friends are around!  big love

Hummingbird’s quotes are in italics:

“I have the sense you’re moving very strongly into love.”

 yes, hummingbird, the path of love is the main road/journey. perhaps the lack of it and the wounding from it is why we are led to the path of healing to lead us back to the path of love! love, big hearted love…that is what I strive for.

here is a great song by canadian bruce cockburn, “great big love”….for both Hummingbird & Sylvia and your great big loves. Indeed a “journey to love”, is one of my favorite albums of the 70’s by Stanley Clarke.

“Life chooses lessons we’d never have guessed are coming! (sign of a good teacher:)”

“sometimes we trip and find ourselves bang, crash, squarely on our behinds! :)”

seems i’ve crashed again, am literally on my back in bed with ice and laptop.
just when i was getting much better this pretty big setback. but we adapt, and it is amazing and sometmes disconcerting what we humans can get used to. i surrender to the pain, and also make active plans to eliminate it, all the while revering it as teacher~~albeit a literal pain in my ass teacher!

“the deepest sorrow can be transformed to rivers of nectar.”

just as Khalil Gibran wrote “the depths of your sorrows are the heights of your joy”

no need for apology. may we carry on in our journeys in and to love, our original pure essence that you speak of here…

much love!

It is precious traveling with you two on this precious journey. Thank you.
Mary, my prayers with you as you struggle with pain

much love

Mother Mary,

I commend you for your strengtht and understanding; this is apprecieated by me as I finish my master;s in addictios counseling, as a wife of a recovering alcoholic, and a daughter of a schizophrenic. Are we meant to travel certain journies for a purpose in life? I know I have volunteered on the behalf of children for many years, including running Alateen programs; I know this is a way of compensating for my lost childhood.