Take a moment to settle,
To feel your connection to the earth,
To let your rib cage expand with a sweet,
Deep inhale,
To exhale and soften.
Inhale,
Exhale.
Welcome to a hit of hope,
And this one's a wee bit salty.
Have you ever taken a yoga class and heard the instructor say,
Let go of that which no longer serves you?
If so,
Have you ever wanted to drop an anvil on the teacher's head and say,
If I could do that Ms.
Kale breath,
I wouldn't be here?
Inhale,
Exhale.
I had a similar reaction when I recently read this piece of wisdom from Walt Whitman.
These are the days that must happen to you.
Go to hell,
Walt.
You have no idea what it's like to struggle.
Actually,
Walt probably knew a lot about struggle.
He cared for sick and injured soldiers during the Civil War.
Can you imagine?
The sights?
The smells?
All he had to do was look around to see the damage we humans are capable of inflicting upon one another.
Not only that,
But many presume him to have been homosexual.
If our country still struggles with accepting this today,
As do many other countries around the world,
Just think of what it must have been like for him back then.
These are the days that must happen to you.
If that's the case,
Then what are we to make of these days of ours?
My daughter often listens to epic movie soundtracks while she studies.
And why not?
What is a test but a kind of battle?
It's just red ink that spills over paper rather than blood on snow.
Those soaring soundtracks also make it easy to long for a knock on the door,
One that upends the ordinary and pulls us into a hero's journey.
But do we really want that?
In epic adventures,
Shit goes sideways.
Legions of dark things gather against us.
Then there's little hope,
And still the hero is called to fight.
And epics are lengthy,
Arduous.
It can be hard enough to sit through the three-hour Lord of the Rings movies,
Let alone be on a terrifying journey with no end in sight.
But we face battles all of the time.
That might mean trying to stay patient with a toddler turned Napoleon who is screaming at us as Snap,
Crackle,
And Pop watch disapprovingly from the Rice Krispie boxes.
Or the battle might be walking into a room to get chemo,
Or sitting at the kitchen table and figuring out what to do because the job is gone and the bills are piling up.
Time and again we must gather our courage and do what it takes to stay alive,
Safe,
Sane,
Whole,
And to help those around us do the same.
It's not the extraordinary events that make you epic.
It's the attitude.
Take Whitman.
As outer and probably inner battles were raging,
He celebrated the ordinary.
He turned toward the broken and offered care.
He praised the multitude.
He lived hard and wide,
Ever feeding his habit of seeing the best in humanity.
And if that isn't an epic hero's journey,
I don't know what is.
And so maybe he's right.
These are the days that must happen to you.
Even more battle you might face,
Taking care of yourself,
Doing what is best for your mind,
Body,
And spirit.
If these are the days that must happen to you,
Then don't you want to meet them with your very best self?
So please take care of yourself.
Find ways to feel fed,
Cared for,
Supported,
Nourished.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Ground.
Breathe.
Shine.
Live light.
