Day 22: June 4, 2012 ~ How the Light Gets In

Day 22: June 4, 2012 ~ How the Light Gets In

"Ring the bells that still can ring.

Forget your perfect offering.

There is a crack in everything.

That's how the light gets in."

~Leonard Cohen

My apologies to those who actually check the blog every day...I've been a bit sporadic in my "daily" postings...and I hope you'll have patience with me as we travel this road together, guided by the promptings of spirit. Today I am grateful for the gifts of the tender heart, the heart open to feeling sadness and pain, for in surrendering into sadness rather than resisting, the heart softens and opens to let the light in. Those who feel deeply also understand the suffering of others and bring compassion to those who thirst for it. Those who draw from a deep well of emotion to create art and music and poetry enrich our lives beyond measure with exquisite beauty.

I am grateful today for one of the wisest teachers I have known--my brother--who helps me to remember this whenever I forget. He listens with compassion when my inner critic does a number on me, passing judgement for not measuring up to its high standards, or when I apologize to him for expressing sadness or grief, as happened yesterday. He has no such judgement of the tears. He says there is beauty in them, because they reveal my tender heart. He sees my soul shining through the tears. He says that it is our capacity to be wounded, that vulnerability and tenderness, that make us truly human. He says when our tender heart comes forth, it is asking to be seen, held, nurtured, and understood. He says when we reject the tenderness, it is like rejecting our soul. Pretty wise guy, my brother. 

Some of us who have a strong inner critic carry the burden of being perfectionists. It's one thing to do a job well, and to put one's best efforts into an endeavor, out of a desire to grow and expand and feel a sense of pride in accomplishment. However, perfectionism is more about the need to "get it right", the need to look good, out of a need for approval. It is a kind of prison to the soul. We can avoid our feelings out of a need to project that "all is well", not wanting people to see the cracks in our facade. Ah, but what if we were to allow ourselves the full range of emotions and feelings? What beautiful creations might emerge from within? What healing and wisdom might we provide?

I love the image above--these beautiful little flowers emerging from the rich soil in the crack in the pavement remind us of the beauty that emerges from the soul in the places where the heart breaks open. May we nurture those places and hold them with tender hearts.