Hello,
This is Kate Swoboda from Your Courageous Life and Team CLCC,
And today I am coming to you to share some thoughts on how you can practice what I call ordinary gladness.
It's a practice for navigating this messy moment in our world,
Which certainly feels like much longer than a moment.
It's a practice for holding in your heart that which you know to be the more powerful force,
Because I believe that if you're listening to this,
You would probably say that love is a stronger force than fear in this world.
And if that is true,
Then we need to act like it,
Starting now,
Even when fear is really loud.
Let's begin.
First,
Of course,
Climbing into your body,
Noticing what your body needs,
And as you settle into your body,
Taking a couple of breaths.
There is no prim,
Perfect,
Proper breathing,
So you can't do this wrong.
Just take in those breaths,
In and out,
At whatever pace feels comfortable for you.
And if you notice that there's something that needs attending to,
Attend to yourself gently.
If your breath feels tight,
Or too rapid,
If something about how you chose to arrange your body feels uncomfortable,
Go ahead and give yourself a moment to get more comfortable.
And now we start to step into the practice of ordinary gladness.
Ordinary gladness is not about trying to pretend that everything is sparkly,
And better,
And prettier than it actually is.
Sometimes things just fall apart.
Sometimes natural disasters happen.
And that is hard,
And that is real,
And we will not bypass that.
Entering into practice today,
I'm trusting that you have spent plenty of time worrying,
Thinking about,
Crying,
Feeling angry.
You've spent time there.
You're not numb.
And so now it's time to open the door to something else,
Which is a sense of ordinary gladness.
How I like to step into an ordinary gladness practice is to close my eyes and visualize or think of something that makes me calm,
Yet supremely happy.
Something that would put a smile on my face in a moment.
Here are a couple of options.
Think of the way a baby laughs.
Think of how your pets are when they are being absolutely ridiculous in the best way.
Think of how touched you felt the last time someone did something kind for you,
Even if it was a small kindness,
Like letting you go ahead of them in line.
Think of the way you feel whenever you've seen a beautiful sunset.
The way the color explodes into the sky,
And for a moment you're struck dumb,
Going,
Oh my god,
Look at this world.
Those are just a few options,
And certainly you have your own lines of poetry that made you pause a moment when your heart opened.
You think about that and you conjure that,
You imagine that,
You visualize that in your head.
And then notice in your body where something in you lifts a little bit,
Feels like maybe life is more possible,
Gets a sense that you are connected deeply to yourself and to other people.
That shows up differently for everyone.
For me,
It tends to feel like a loving vibration,
A warmth coming from my heart,
And I like to put my hands over my heart.
For you,
Maybe it feels like a hug,
Or like someone has come up behind you and they're gently putting their hands on your shoulders and you can feel your shoulders drop.
And you sit in that,
And you breathe in all of that beauty.
Yes,
The world can be a brutal place,
But it also has this.
It also has new life.
It also has the buds that are about to unfurl into a blossom.
It also has what it feels like to put your hands in wet paint on a canvas and move it around and mix the color.
It also has the incredible beauty of someone singing a song and their voice hitting a note in a way that sends a little shiver down your spine.
It also has how you felt the first time you realized that you loved someone deeply.
Take a breath in,
Take a breath out.
Keep coming back to ordinary gladness,
These simple,
Small pleasures.
Take a breath in and out.
If in any way you have moved away from what was bringing your heart such gladness a moment ago,
Just come back to it.
Visualize it again.
Hold it close,
And then slowly take in one really big,
Deep breath where you fill yourself all the way up.
Press your palms together and say thank you.
Thank you to yourself.
Thank you to the mystery of this human existence.
It is confusing and it is confounding,
And yet there is so much love here for you.
Thank you for being here.
As you go back into your day,
Please remember that any time you want to come back to this practice of ordinary gladness,
It's here for you,
You are supported,
And I'm so grateful that I know that I'm not alone and that you,
Yes you,
Are here with me,
With all of us.
Blessings as you go about your day.
