I was out walking last Thursday morning, still in a post-election haze, and I came across this leaf. As soon as I saw it, I recognized the hole was in the shape of an upside down heart. How appropriate.

Isn’t that how our hearts feel at times, like there is a hole inside them that’s been turned upside down? I have felt and still do feel bereft about the social ills of our nation. An election cannot resolve that. We are a massive collective that says it wants to heal as long as that means we hit fast forward to the part where life feels good again. Most of us are looking for the easy button.

And yet every single one of us knows what healing is really like. It’s rarely fast or easy. First, we feel the pain of the wound in order to even know we are injured. Whether it’s a paper cut, a broken bone or a broken heart, if we can’t feel the pain, we are not even able to witness the harm that has been done to us or by us. 

We lose sleep because of the pain. We are forced to slow down in order to heal. We take better care of ourselves. We give it time, and air and we do things differently. We stop doing the things that hurt us, or others. 

And with care and attention, over time the wound heals. We never forget the broken arm, the broken heart but the acute pain begins to fade. One day we wake up and what we notice is the absence of pain. What we realize is we are healed and we are different. 

This is where we are. We either move forward in healing or we limp along. Those are the only two choices. And friends, we’ve been limping for far too long.

Sunshine & Sarcasm,
Lowi & G