For me, it is quite easy to embrace change on a work level, but much harder to do so on a personal level. And it is all around me. My friend Linda is moving back to the States at the end of the month, and my two children, no longer children, are both in the throes of applying to university. And I am happy for them all, but very sad for me. To be truthful, I have been wallowing in self-pity, which is never good.
 |
| A crowd of sorrows (image from creativeeveryday.com) |
So I turn to Rumi's wonderful poem The Guesthouse for comfort:
This being human is a guesthouse
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
Some momentary awareness
Comes as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and attend them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
Who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture,
Still, treat each guest honourably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
Meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
Because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.
Welcome difficulty.
Learn the alchemy True Human Beings know;
The moment you accept what troubles you've been given,
the door opens.
Welcome difficulty as a familiar comrade.
Joke with torment brought by a Friend.
Sorrows are the rags of old clothes and jackets
that serve to cover, and then are taken off.
That undressing, and the beautiful naked body underneath,
Is the sweetness that comes after grief.
Thank you Sue,this expressed so well something that I have only recently properly realised, through my Experiment with Light meditations on a conflict with others I had been facing.
ReplyDeleteAlso it happens that my daughter (only child) has just gone to University,so I thought I'd write to you. I feel a space - but a clean, well-lit one. I hope it will be the same for you.
Thank you Susie - much appreciated. Sue x
ReplyDelete