Dealing With The Horror Of The World

As an American of Palestinian and Syrian origin, I am filled and flushed with so many emotions. I have been feeling hopeless and helpless. I decided to record a meditation during this time that would possibly be helpful to at least one person in the same headspace. I am trying my best to invite radical love despite the horror I feel inside. May this bring comfort. May we join in the community, mourn, and grieve together.

Transcript

Hello,

I'm Samir,

And today I come to you with a very heavy heart.

I feel hopeless,

Helpless,

Angry,

Hurt.

Before I ask you to close your eyes,

For some reason or another,

You found your way here because you may be feeling the same.

I wish I could give you the answers.

I wish I could tell you and myself that the pain will end.

But there's a part of me that feels like those words are empty.

So I want to hold space for my feelings and complex emotions.

I feel angry.

Wanting revenge.

Hurt.

Sad.

Wanting love.

Wanting peace.

Wanting solution.

Wanting mobility,

Clean water,

Freedom of expression.

Wishing that the world didn't feel the need to negotiate whether my right to exist holds any importance,

Is understood and respected.

I ask you now if you would like to close your eyes.

And if you haven't noticed,

There's been a continual string playing,

Playing in the background.

I want to encourage you to think of this string,

The sound of this electronic cello,

As the flame within your soul that is refusing to give up despite all the feelings of helplessness that you have.

The strong flame within you that no wind can put out.

No army can defeat.

No opinion can dim.

And I want you to know,

Dear one,

That you are precious.

Your life is precious.

Your dreams and aspirations are precious.

A wise man once told me,

People are going to do you wrong.

People will hurt you in unforgivable ways.

The answer is never to treat them how they've treated you.

And I know this may be coming from a place of privilege.

And I know that your ego may not understand what this means.

But in here and in this moment,

I want to give you permission to rest.

You cannot undo the evil that has already occurred.

You cannot go back in time and do anything to stop it.

You are not responsible for the pain.

I believe in a great spirit and being that is holy,

That understands me,

That loves me.

And I'm here to tell you that you are loved.

You are needed.

And you are wanted.

This is me sharing from the heart.

And I might listen back to it and disagree with my own self.

But that's the beauty of the adventure of life.

Feelings come and go.

Thoughts pass.

A wise woman once told me,

Feelings are very real.

But they aren't fact.

Difficult for me to hear and understand.

But I want you to know that living authentically is your birthright.

To love yourself in full capacity is your birthright.

And it is okay if you make a mistake or hold a belief in the past or today that you want to shed and let go of.

Believe me,

I would love to sit in justified anger.

But the more I sit in it,

The more I feel that lit flame within my soul dims.

And after it passes,

And whatever choice I make to do with that justified anger,

I know I will regret.

So maybe the answer is in community.

It's in loving the people that are in your life and letting them know how important they are to you in this moment.

And to leave this meditation with just a little more clarity on what is truly important in this life,

Which I believe is to love one another.

How do you forgive those that have committed murder?

I cannot tell you that I truly know.

But despite all of that pain,

I want to choose love.

You see,

You can take everything from me,

But you won't take my spirit.

My existence is enough resistance.

So my prayer for you is that you experience joy.

You experience peace.

You experience love.

Ma'a salami.

Reviews

I cired and am crying as I write this as this was so moving.I thank you deeply for sharing this with the world. You spoke into my soul and gave me hope. I'm angry so angry with so much injustice in this world to humans and animals but I need to choose love. Thank you holding me when your heart was so heavy too. Thank you

As sad, afraid, angry and hopeless as I feel right now, I know that the only possible chance of peace and survival we have as humans, regardless of our race, religion or any other identity, is if every single person makes the conscious decision to choose love. Thank you for sharing your heart, soul, truth and wisdom. 🙏🏻

A year on, I wonder how you are. The horrors persist and increase. This meditation helped me feel less alone in struggling with the overwhelming amount of terrible suffering throughout the world. Prayers and tears, meditation and whatever action is possible. May all beings be safe and free. 🙏🏽🇵🇸🇱🇧❤️‍🩹

I needed this today. The struggle is real. Solidarity in the struggle and hope love will conquer the hate in this world.

I feel extremely moved and grateful. I really needed to hear this on this very difficult day. Thank you so much for creating such a beautiful, meaningful, soulful meditation :)