love is the healer

It has been said that pain is the great equalizer as it brings us all to our knees. I agree with this to a point. Pain does not recognize artificial or social inequalities, whether they be in the realm of financial, fame, and everything in between. Pain is a human condition and provides an opportunity to open our hearts and minds. It can be an opportunity for healing. When this occurs, we can then open our hearts more to others as we recognize the heart-aches they may be going through as they challenge themselves with their own lessons. This does not mean I have to charge in and attempt to fix their life for them, but it does offer me a chance to allow compassion to fill me and spill out to them through words of encouragement and acts of kindness.

The words become an acknowledgment of their life choices of lessons. This has been brought home to me over the years as family members have died. The gift the older generation offered me was the gift of compassion. The simple acknowledgement of how I was feeling and the heart ache I was experiencing was the most perfect balm to be offered and I readily accepted all. Their gift of compassion was born out of their own life experiences and they had learned the value and respect of love. It is love that heals our heart and mind, and we know this when we have had own hearts touched with pain and healed with love.

Time has to be factored in here to. I speak from my own experience of having to allow time to adjust to the rents in the fabric of my emotional life after the deaths of family members. As my mind grappled with the initial emotional shock, and then the smaller after shocks, until eventually the heart and mind found equalibrium. Love is the equalizer and the healing.

When the mind and heart are in unity then love is the equalizer because we recognize ourself in others as loving beings. This is our humanity. This does not mean that life events that impact each and every one of us suddenly stop happening. Far from it! Life in all it vagaries and vicissitudes continues. The defining element is in how we chose to deal with them. How are we engaged in the art of living? This is a perfect question to ask ourselves. And so begins my morning.

Hillary vs Obama. Optimism and Hope.

I am thinking about the NH primary and the results. I am happy. The shift for me was to see Hillary truly connecting on all levels, physically being present, mentally and emotionally showing her depth. To do this shows the strength and courage within her. It was her moment in truth. I have listened avidly to the candidates and have concluded that Hillary will get my vote because she is optimistic and hopeful. Obama is hopeful; both are full of passion.

Let me explain my thinking here. Optimism is backed up with data and in this case it is labeled experience; and given where this country is at the moment and what the incoming president is inheriting, there is going to have to be a lot of experience backing up the optimism to make a difference. Obama is certainly electrifying and inspiring in his message of hope and he and Hillary are both galvanizing the voting population like few before them. I have no doubts that Obama could make a fine president but (yes, there is a But) my reservation is that he will have a slow start because of inexperience and I feel this country cannot afford to wait.

The passion for this fine country has to run deep and be the internal compass for change. Passion with experience gets my vote. I am so over the talking heads pontificating and projecting. It has become like white noise to me, and perhaps to others as well.