Hello,
I'm Cindy Glennon.
My intention in offering this meditation is of seeking unity,
Inclusivity,
And non-harming.
Thank you for allowing your own intention to bring you here today.
Find a comfortable position for your body.
You may choose to sit upright or lie down.
Allow for as much physical comfort as available in this moment.
Notice your breath.
Feel the physical sensations of the inhale.
Feel the exhale.
Take a few rounds,
Bringing your mind to your breath.
I invite you to imagine your hero or your heroine,
And if you have many of them,
Pick just one.
See this hero in your mind.
See their face,
Their clothes,
Their eyes.
See their posture and their background.
Hear their voice.
What are the qualities of this hero?
Perhaps the quality that you admire most of them is leadership,
Compassion,
Strength,
Intelligence,
Respect,
Empathy,
Complexity,
Toughness,
Simplicity,
Or bravery.
Let all and any qualities of your hero come into your mind.
Feel them.
Now imagine your hero's life journey.
Perhaps their life is or was shorter or longer.
Even if you do not know their whole life story,
What challenges do you know or imagine that they encountered?
What and who in their life supported them?
What adversaries did they have?
Where did their drive to keep going come from?
Did their journey have an archetype story such as rags to riches or callousness to compassion?
Self-consciousness to self-belief?
Did they reach a time point in their life of great despair and commit to helping others?
Perhaps another story resonates with you,
The story that made them the person they are.
Feel and connect with what you can imagine their life was and is like.
Take a long slow breath in and a long slow breath out.
Now imagine if your hero had a very different life.
Imagine if some aspect of their life did not occur as was their path.
Pretend that one key piece was plucked out,
That they did not become the hero that you know.
They may still lead a decent life but not the one that inspires you.
Notice if you feel resistance to imagining this and know that this is natural as we would all protect and defend our heroes.
Take another deep breath.
Feel the disappointment if you feel that.
If it's difficult then all the more reason to stick with it.
Work through it with me.
Your hero is still okay and you are okay.
You are alright breathing in this moment.
Now imagine if enough was different in your hero's journey that they did the opposite of what you find heroic.
Imagine their life changed so that instead of compassion they became cold-hearted or numbed.
Instead of toughness they became in your eyes weak.
Instead of being your champion they became an icon of some other cause you think misguided.
Take a deep breath and imagine it.
Imagine this version of your hero who perhaps has now morphed in their physical appearance,
Their posture,
Their presence.
Perhaps you have found their image more fuzzy this version of them.
Now know that this version of them exists,
Exists in some other human's body.
Your hero in your eyes is hurt and misguided.
You may feel that this version of your hero is still capable of overcoming because you know what great feats they accomplished in real life.
Now imagine many other people listening to this meditation,
Each with a different hero.
Realize that your altered hero is at least one person's actual hero.
This also means that some other person's altered version is your real hero.
We each have a set of values and deal-breakers and disbelief that it could be any other way.
We are in disbelief that others could be in disbelief of our priorities and values.
Right now in this mixed up and confused state reach into your vulnerability or place of discomfort.
Now imagine that someone with your opposite ideal of a hero is also being brave enough to reach into their own discomfort.
You can both be in this place at the same time.
If you're willing share this discomfort with them.
No other thoughts but the image and emotion of this state of vulnerability.
Look this other person in the eyes.
Let them look back at you.
Even if you think this person would do you harm outside this meditation,
Let them be in this raw human vulnerability with you.
You are safe.
You are safe.
You are both safe in this moment.
If you are both willing would you share the secret of your anger,
Your fears?
Anger is a form of fear.
What is your fear?
Once you identify your fear express it to this person.
They listen without speaking a word and then allow them to express their fear to you.
Do not argue it.
Allow it.
It is their conditioning that brought them to this fear.
It is your conditioning that brought you to fear them.
You can hear their expressed fear from their place of vulnerability.
Ask yourself to acknowledge it.
Perhaps even understand it on a human level even if you feel the hurt in it.
Take another deep breath.
Now ask the person opposite of you to name the best quality that their hero exudes.
One word or phrase simple in its simplest form.
No reason,
No context,
No explanation.
Just one value.
Hear their one most important value right now.
Notice if you are surprised.
Maybe you like that value or at least acknowledge it as needed in this world.
Maybe it is even on your own list of values.
And now offer to express your hero's best quality to your counterpart.
How do they react?
Are you surprised at their reaction to your highest value?
Your opposite person allowed the risk of discomfort and so did you.
Take a moment to thank each other for going to this place together.
You may not ever be the best of friends but you took this conscious moment and you built a bridge.
Maybe it is a bridge that you could cross in the future.
Maybe not.
Maybe others will cross it.
The bridge might need a lot more support and stability to be crossed but you and your imagined opposite person became partners in this moment and made a difference.
Bring yourself back to the image of your hero in their fullest form.
The form you saw them in at the beginning of this meditation.
You have embodied their heroism and more.
You have reached out,
Done the hard work,
And you stayed with it.
You can awake to your path with a glimmer of understanding or increased compassion.
Trust your partner on this journey has done the same.
You have seen the human side and connected a thread to make that bridge.
Allow a few moments of settling by taking a few focused breaths.
Come into a feeling of gratitude.
Gratitude to make the choice to take on this challenge,
To do this brave work.
You're able to put forward the best of all the heroes and you my friend are a hero to another.
