There are many terms that encompass this poop hits the fan moment. Even as writers, we intentionally create these challenges in a template otherwise known as the hero’s journey. But within our lifetime, there has never been a time when we’re globally experiencing grief, loss, fear and instability.
During moments of intense uncertainty, we fall back onto our coping mechanisms, some healthy, others not so much.
But under the enormous weight of suffering, all religions and spiritual traditions have ways to help us see the dark in a new light.
This is the time when we lean upon them to find meaning, purpose and a new sense of perceiving the world.
Grief, come to find out, is the impetus for considerable change.
The process of difficulty offers many opportunities. But one must first feel them. We need to allow ourselves permission to emote. In the safety of loved ones, a trusted friend, a therapist, in the quiet spaces of our homes, giving ourselves the freedom to cry, grieve, yell, write, scream, is the way through suffering.
This wave of emotion must crest in order for us to get beyond it to the field of freedom where we have the insight and introspection to grow into who we are meant to become.
Otherwise, we’re just gliding on the surface of life. Never allowing pain to heal us. Never allowing life’s challenges to push us to grow.
It’s not an easy journey and the older we get to become, the harder the challenges.
It’s a lot easier to speak from a place of comfort, but real change occurs when we let so-called dark emotions infiltrate our soul. Compassion is the way we pull ourselves out. Love then can carry us to a new place. We’re spinier, grittier when we get out and the world is better for it.
When we’ve suffered and found our way through it, we develop empathy, compassion and resilience.
So if you find yourself on this journey, I commend you. Be kind to yourself. Seek support. And remember, although it may feel like it, you are not alone.