The Day the World Cried

“Only people who are capable of loving strongly can also suffer great sorrow, but this same necessity of loving serves to counteract their grief and heals them.”

-Leo Tolstoy

I woke up one morning, opened my eyes, and the mist outside my window spoke of the world crying.  The world is crying as we feel the pain. The world is crying for those hurt in the recent Boston episode, for their families their friends, the witnesses, the perpetrators, the patriots, the Country. The world is crying for the pain in Bosnia, Serbia, the Sudan, Israel, the Middle East, and, and, and.

Through the veil of tears lives what is possible. If we could all be held in the bosom of our mother’s love, would all this pain and suffering be possible?

The world is crying because there are a lot of tears to shed. Crying forever or crying as a catharsis are not the same as crying to express the care and love for ourselves and for each other. Unending crying speaks when we are unconsciously caught in our own story where something was not resolved or understood. Unending crying occurs when we cry out of guilt, or cry about something that is underneath a hurt or a loss. 

We cry to bring everyone together; not in pain, but in common empathy for all of us. Truly, all of us are affected by the Boston bombings, even in Pakistan. Truly, all of us are affected by the wars in all parts of the world.  Crying as an entity, all together, to share together the pain and loss is healing. Crying alone and separate with the thinking that ours is different continues the aloneness.

Crying can be a way to nurture ourselves, our family, our Country, and the greater world.  Through feeling the pain together, we gain a sense of love and care and belonging. We don’t belabor the pain and draw it on and on, we feel it together, mourn together, and find the strength in the bosom of each other to move on.  This type of mourning and crying is healing, and is a beautiful way to love ourselves and each other. Love and nurturing and feeling and bringing light to each other is a beautiful way to change ourselves, to live more fully and vitally, and even to change the world.

I am moved here to go to a Visualization/Meditation to help us to do just that.

Shift Your Story: Guided Visualization/Meditation

  

Close your eyes get comfortable and tune into your breathing. Breathe deeply two or three times, and begin imagining. Imagine sitting alone in your chair, crying over a loss; yours or Boston’s or 911 or from the holocausts across the globe. Feel your tears and let images cross through your inner image. Take your time with this and as you do so, feel what is happening within you and where you feel your feelings; in your breast, your chest, your stomach, your shoulders, etc. Feel the earth beneath your feet. This is your earth.

Next, imagine being held in the bosom of your mother; the alchemic mother, not necessarily your mother of birth. You are being held as you wish you were held as a baby. This mother is the best mother you could possibly have. As you are being held, feel any feelings that come up for you. What does it feel like to be held at her bosom? Does this feel good, bad, can you even do this? As you are being held and feeling the earth at your feet, tune in again to a pain or loss for yourself personally, or for others you know or for the pain in your community, your country, or the world.  Is there a difference? Just notice the difference.

Now imagine everyone across the globe being held in this way…..everyone.

How does this feel, and where do you feel this in your body? Be with this image and feeling for a couple of minutes. Become aware of your breath again, your feet on the earth, and open your eyes. If you would like to make a few notes for yourself, please do.

This exercise is for us individually, and for everyone. As we nurture ourselves personally, it becomes part of us and part of how we relate to and nurture the world.