With the Wings of Compassion,
May We Soar above it all.
About a year ago, I went to a ten-day silent meditation retreat. And during that retreat, I sat with some of my most painful feelings and thoughts. And eventually, I felt the feelings melt into something beyond what I could describe. The closest word is compassion. A feeling that inspired this art piece and eventually this poem (see below)
Recently, with the CoVID virus (and even my personal circumstances) some painful thoughts and emotions have resurfaced. And so has a need for deep love and compassion. So, I pulled back out this art piece. And restocked my shelves, as this art piece was out of stock (check out my prints for sale here).
And here it is, the invitation for all of us to fall back into the arms of our own self-compassion. Into a love that sees through it all. A love that is capable of giving us wings, in times we may forget we know how to fly. Oh yes, dear ones, you know how to fly. Above the noise, and into your hearts. May you be free, today and all days:
THE POEM (inspired by the meditation retreat):
I used to think compassion meant
To tolerate bad behavior
And yet, here I am
Feeling compassion
For the painful perceptions
I’ve carried for so long in my body
All of the guilt and painful emotions
Established by negative self-talk
limiting beliefs
And MY OWN bad behavior
I finally understand myself
Not needing anyone else to understand me
I feel this compassion
Healing, dissolving these wounds
A warmth radiates out of my heart
Feeling all that I once resisted, and judged
Melt into the wholeness that I am
I feel love, a peace, in every cell of my body
I think
“Is this what compassion feels like?
I don’t know if I have ever felt it before.”
And now,
I see things with new eyes
Eyes of peace and forgiveness
Eyes capable of seeing all the different viewpoints
All the different walks of life
from a broader perspective
I see that compassion
Is seeing the full picture
Understanding how: hurt people, hurt people
How I once,
With a limiting understanding and deep
established wounds,
hurt others
A realization that another’s bad behavior
Is not personal - it is their own pain
And although this does not justify bad behavior
It gives me the freedom
To fly above all the noise and chaos others still carry in their own bodies
Allowing us to be where we are
On our individual paths
It is with these wings,
That I allow myself to be
Where I am on my path
And can fly and dance
With nature's sweet embrace
Picking up new perspectives
From higher vanishing points
Detaching myself from the victim stories
And identities
I once clung to
Freeing myself of so many illusions
It is with these Wings of Compassion
I harmoniously respond,
set loving boundaries
and walk away with a serenity
Not allowing another’s pain
To trigger my own pain
As my pain and their pain
Feels dissolved in compassion
For It is with compassion
We soar freely above it all.
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