If you recently read my Muse-letter that I sent out this week, you know that these last few days have been a celebration of life and loss. Maybe it seems weird to celebrate loss, but if you have been reading along with me these last few months, it’s really not so strange.
Loss, death, disappointment, or not getting what we want (even when we work really, really hard for it) shreds a layer or two. We feel raw and grated. Exposed and vulnerable. But what settles in its place are new cells, new skin, new life. The last three years have felt like an onslaught of loss, death, and disappointment. I won’t lie; even with my super intact ego, it’s been really hard.
One of the things that has been especially tricky for me is to not let the hard make me hard. I am actually a pretty trusting and loyal person. A ride-or-die sort. But when things keep coming at you, sometimes it feels like the best way to survive is to make a shield. A thick, crusty layer that I can see out of, but keeps the world’s badness out. Like my friend here, the Indian Star Tortoise. She’s got it down.
But those layers can get old, grizzled, weak, and are shed too. And underneath, strength still has to be built and sustained. Like muscle; well-formed but pliable.
So #whattodo? How do I stay protected and strong without getting hardened? These are my goals this year: to be strong and pliable. And here are the few simple things that I am going to work into my daily life more often than I do:
- Water: to have force alongside fluidity, take it from the master. Literally, drink it in. That’s my plan.
- Stretch: muscles are only as useful as they are mobile. And it also happens that I am aging, and so is my fascia. What isn’t softened can become brittle.
To make resolutions, we have to be resolved. RE-solved. Look closely at our problems, errors, misfortunes, or disappointments and be dedicated to the solution. Again. What are you resolved to work on this time around?
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