What changes as we consciously turn toward our suffering, rather than away? We are conditioned to experience ourselves as separate from life. When we identify with this perceived separation, a natural byproduct is loneliness. In an attempt to resolve the angst created by that experience, to heal the wound, we are habituated to look externally. In that outward gaze, we often overlook an experience of belonging that is inherent.
In this habit of focusing outside ourselves, we tend to turn away, rather than toward, our pain. How does our habit of seeking shift when we recognize that what we long for can never actually be lost?
Your doorway in
Dear one
I see the pain
in your heart —
the gaping wound
that’s been covered
with your good intention
to move on, to be strong,
to let go.
Now
in the stillness of the moment
you are safe to move into it,
to be with it, to turn toward
rather than away.
Trust
that this pain
will not break you.
Trust
that this pain
is made of the same love
that you’ve most longed for.
The wound is your doorway in.
—Caverly