As a collective this year, it has seemed that we have been tasked to clear a hurtle before knowing that there is another huge wall waiting to be climbed right after it. In the blindfolded obstacle course that has been 2020, we've been met with a necessary restructuring of our routines and our priorities and though this has brought profound and hopeful change, it has also wreaked deep anxiety, exhaustion, and continued uncertainty.
As time moves forward and we gain a better understanding of the bigger picture, it is still reasonable that we will be inflicted with questions of: what's next?
There are many things to be uncertain about in this 3rd quarter of 2020: the health of the nation, the steps that need to happen that will lead us to healing, and the roles that we play in it all. Bring it a bit closer to home and we may be uncertain about holiday gatherings and school schedules, yearning for the closeness of family & friends after so much time apart, and fatigued by the disconnect of it all.
In times like these, it is profoundly important to not lose sight of the importance of self care. The importance of your individual healing. Understandably, you may be plagued by issues greater than our individual ourselves right now, issues that affect our communities in massive ways: systemic racism, inequitable access to healthcare, outdated educational models, food injustice, disproportionate wealth distribution, and so much more.
In this moment, we invite you to just take a deep breath.
Allow your breath to ground you back to your body. Allow your movements and your steps to remind you that your body is on a journey and that there will be better days ahead.
Collective healing takes individual strength and individual strength begins with presence and radical acceptance.
Radical acceptance says, "this is how things are." Radical acceptance acknowledges what has happened in the past to reach this place of anxiety and uncertainty and it does so with neutrality and compassion. Name the feelings that come up from this understanding: pain, grief, sadness, fear, hurt. Allow yourself to imagine how you would rather feel.
Use this I-would-rather-feel feeling as your baseline and starter fuel.
In spite of its name, radical acceptance does not mean that you are actually accepting what is happening as a fact of life that allows you to remain passive in your healing. It means that you accept the reality of how things are and from the embers of your rather-feel-feeling, build a new fire to bring yourself home.
If you would rather feel rested, rest.
If you want to feel movement, get up.
If you want to feel full, fill yourself up.
Start anywhere. But start with yourself first.
Holding space for you and all your hues.
Love Always,
The Mood Ring Collective