This week’s theme focused on the importance of observing habitual words in our speech as they tend to evade deeper meaning and truth.
For years, I heard phrases like “get grounded”, “get present”, “just love”, and “drop your head into your heart”. While they were beautiful and well-intentioned, I had no idea what they meant, nor, more importantly, how to assimilate them into my body for change.
It took me four years to integrate the words “get grounded”. My father was leaving after a weekend visit, and I hugged him goodbye. Under my arms, I could feel his aging torso and creaky bones. A swirl of emotions and stories about our past ravaged my composure. I started to unravel and slip into a familiar place of unease and fear. I knew at a deep level that these feelings were messengers, demanding my attention. The aches in my body pointed toward my historical suppression of emotions, a no longer effective coping mechanism. So I made an “appointment” with them. Later that day, I carved out time to meet on my own terms the mixture of sadness, pain, overwhelm, fear, and grief. I found a safe space, stilled my body, opened my eyes, and sat, giving myself permission to revisit the earlier moment. The same sense of destabilization arose in me. I remained open-eyed and still. I cried, softened, fought the urge to exit, and stayed. I breathed and met the swirl of visitors. Then, it all became quiet inside. I felt a doorway to a smoother place open and went through it. Nothing had changed but me. I felt grounded.
May we discover the deeper meanings of our habitual words to create even richer connections with ourselves and others.