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We are quiet revolutionaries who continue to hold space to listen to others, and who refuse to let hate be the loudest voice in the room.
The world is breaking into pieces of unimaginable cruelty, chaos, and confusion. Each news headline presses against my chest and every injustice feels personal. Just when I wonder if I can take any more heartache, I see how strong I am.
My one precious life continues to beat quietly and bravely, no matter what.
This month, as if nothing was wrong in the world, I blessed the first signs of spring by putting the hummingbird feeders outside; fed sunflower seeds to all “my” other birds; joyfully flew to the Northwest to reconnect with family; took my inner child out to play with my imaginative grandchildren; photographed tulips, forsythias, and newly-formed buds; belted out uplifting songs and chants; meditated; created a life coaching video; shared wisdom tools of encouragement with my Facebook community, “Shift of Heart: Paths to Healing and Love;” made social plans with friends; reached out to several heart-centered new people in my life; participated in expressive arts programs; took a birding class; attended a sound healing concert; and cherished every single moment in Sedona with my beloved husband.
Even as my heart breaks, the healing power of love pleads with me to keep my heart open anyways.
It’s the kind of love that gets its hands dirty, peacefully stands in protest, inspires, gives, receives, creates, listens, and reaches out a trembling hand to strangers.
It’s the kind of love that invites people to share their stories, history, fears, triumphs, deepest thoughts, wisdom, vulnerabilities, and tears.
It’s the kind of love that embodies the truest meaning of Buddha’s ancient words in the “The Metta Meditation Prayer of Loving Kindness.” (Give these inspiring words a chance to fill your own soul today.)
The Courage to Be Soft
“To love anyways is to light a candle in the dark, not because it will erase the darkness, but because it refuses to let the darkness in.” ~ Peace Dreamer: A Journey of Hope in Bad Times and Good
Love—conscious love—asks me to not close off, run, hide, shrink from within, or lash out. Instead, it asks me to stay soft, tender, and deeply alive. Person to person. Heart to heart.
It’s asking this from you, too. Open your heart to being the love you want in the world.
Love-Breath Exercises
We have the capacity to hold a multitude of contradictory feelings within us, and we also have the capacity to integrate new and old self-healing tools that can bring us back to center. Grounded. Strong. Courageous. Determined. Persistent. Purposeful.
>> As you think and breathe the power word (love), inhale deeply and slowly through your nose to the inner count of four, hold that breath for the count of four, and then release your love-breath through your nose or mouth for the count of six.
>> “Feel all your feels” by releasing your tension through journaling, meditation, creative projects, visualization, sound healing, organizing pantries/closets/drawers, manifesting new dreams, taking peaceful walks in nature, drumming, yoga, massage, cooking, quilting, poetry, dancing your feelings out, taking pictures, singing, humming, whistling, sharing your wisdom, connecting with people, honoring silence, and offering non-judgmental love to strangers you meet along the way.
>> Hold your anguish gently and allow it to deepen your capacity for compassion and empathy.
As author and spiritual teacher Ram Dass said, “We’re all just walking each other home.” What is more sacred than continuing to walk with others, even as we grieve all the losses and horrors of knowing about all “the disappearing?”
The polarity of cruelty and hatred motivates me even more to choose the healing power of love, no matter what.
Rebellious Love
In a society fueled by outrage and division, giving and receiving love can feel like a radical action step these days.
When we choose love over hate, joy over sadness, compassion over contempt, and connection with others over condemnation, it defies the narrative that we should harden ourselves in order to survive.
Love doesn’t mean that we turn away and ignore harsh reality. It means that we turn toward it and meet it with grace, humanity, and an inner voice that says:
“What is happening here hurts the deepest part of my soul. And I will still love.”
Think of all the healers, creatives, educators, helpers, caregivers, light-workers, visionaries, peacemakers, and goodhearted volunteers who show up for others even when they are weary, too.
We are quiet revolutionaries who continue to hold a space to listen to others and who continue to refuse to let hate be the loudest voice in the room.
Holding the World with Both Hands
Loving anyway doesn’t mean that we bypass grief. It means that we allow the full breath and truth of life to be beautiful, brutal, sacred, and messy.
It means learning how to hold sorrow in one hand and wonder in the other.
We can cry, scream, feel deeply scared and anxious, and we can also be in ecstatic delight as we experience sunrises, sunsets, rainbows, and the music of life itself.
We can mourn what’s been lost and still make soup for a friend or a stranger.
There is no such thing as an ordinary errand.
I never know what sweet soul I will meet on my errands, what light or heavy chat I’ll encounter, and whose life I will touch. I never know who will touch my life, either.
Create a committed intention to make everyone’s day overflow with love and everyone’s day feel like an oasis of peace.
Small acts of love matter. They ripple outward. They remind the world that softness is not a weakness. It is a strength.
Soft power is medicine for the aching heart, a balm to the soul, and a bridge of connection toward people of all beliefs.
When your heart breaks, let it break open. Let it become the doorway through which more compassion and truth enter. Don’t let this time of turmoil be the end of your tenderness.
Let it become the spring of your greater capacity to love.
An Invitation
If the world continues to break your heart, you are not alone. You are part of a quiet tribe of the tenderhearted. The empaths. The feelers. The ones who refuse to stop caring even when it would be easier not to care.
Love bigger. Love bolder. Love anyways.
Write that poem or song.
Sing. Dance. Paint. Create.
Feed the hungry.
Keep standing for fairness, truth, and compassion.
Remember the niceties. Say “please,” “thank you,” “you’re welcome,” “excuse me,” and “I’m sorry.”
Ask someone’s name, open the door for someone, let the impatient drivers go and send a prayer of love and light to them as they speed past you, make warm eye contact, share your kind smile, and stay open to the unknown mysteries and miracles of life.
Tell someone, “I love you and I care about you” when it’s hard and when it matters most.
The world needs more people who are willing to love in imperfect times. Don’t stop loving. Love even more.
“The deeper the sorrow, the more love we must call upon. For it is love, not fear, that will shape the future of humanity.” ~ Heart-Dreamer: Stepping into Life, Love, Creativity, and Dreams—No Matter What.
~
author: Cheryl Melody Baskin
Image: Author's own
Editor: Nicole Cameron
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