Stripped Bare

There may be times in life that shake you to your core. 

Strip you bare.

Leave you raw.

And in those moments, you may find yourself saying,

"I'd rather be anywhere but here."

Because 'here' seems too painful and too real and too much to endure.

And so you try to run away...

or hide...or ignore...or distract...or numb...

through food or drink or any other device that seems wise in the moment.

And it is all very innocent, isn't it?

We are in survival mode...within our minds.

Because what we feel seems as if it will swallow us whole.

So we do what we do to survive...

in the best way we know how at the time.

And here's what I also know to be true.

In those moments when it all seems too much

your wise self is always guiding you,

if you continue to listen...

beyond your thinking mind.

And often, the wise self advises you to stay

still

and

quiet

in the moment.

Because when you do...you begin to notice cracks in the pain.

Cracks that give way to something other than pain.

Cracks that allow for new thought and new feeling beyond pain.

For

even in the midst of such overwhelming emotion...

there is space for beauty and love and wonder.

It is all still there

within the crack

no matter how fleeting

no matter how small.

And that is good to notice.

And it is a beginning.

Even when you feel like you would rather be anywhere but here.