From Shane Piñata,
I'm Colleen Thomas.
This is Everyday Magic for Ukraine.
Today we make sense of hard things.
Welcome to the Circle.
So welcome to Everyday Magic for Ukraine,
Where we honor Ukraine and also practice self-care to stay strong as allies.
The only item we need today,
If it's convenient,
Is a small box,
Like one that could fit in the palm of your hand.
And as we arrive together today,
I invite you to find your way into this moment.
Where are you right now?
What do you see around you?
What colors do you see around you?
What shapes do you notice around you?
And what noises do you hear around you?
And if you like,
You're welcome to join me in a breath.
So today we're here together in Circle to see if we can make sense of the hard things.
There might be something in your life or in your heart that drew you to this episode.
And my invitation to you is to go very gently.
The kind of things I'm thinking of are the loss of someone that we love,
Maybe the end of a relationship,
Or just things that are happening in the world that don't make sense,
That are extremely painful,
And that we can't do anything about.
So if you are in touch with any of those kinds of things,
The hard things in life,
I invite you to see if you can pick one you'd like to work with today.
Please don't pick anything overwhelming,
Just something that is on your heart,
That is manageable to kind of sit with for a few minutes.
So first I'd like to remind you that we are in Circle together,
And even though you're listening on your own headphones in the middle of your own day or your own evening,
You are part of the Circle just by listening.
At the top of the episode,
I asked you if you could source a small box.
And here's why.
Sometimes when hard things are overwhelming,
It can be helpful to create a container for them.
A container can do several things.
First of all,
A container can give us a place to put a hard thing when we need a break from it,
When we need to do something else,
And we want to make sure this thing that is so precious to us is safe and is held.
Similarly,
If a hard thing is feeling overwhelming,
It can be nice to have a way to kind of contain it so that it doesn't feel like it's taking over our heart and taking over our life.
Now,
Although I'm suggesting we can contain these hard things by putting them inside of a box,
We really can't contain them.
In real life,
The kinds of things I'm thinking about,
The death of a loved one,
The end of a relationship we didn't want to lose,
We can't actually control those things.
But it can give us a little bit of a sense of control to decide when and how we interact with that loss.
So again,
I'm just going to invite you to drop into a noticing place with your heart.
Notice if there is a hard thing on your heart right now.
And maybe just take a couple of breaths as you presence that thing.
And now,
If you'd like to,
Maybe cup your hands together and imagine that hard thing landing in the palms of your hands.
Imagine that hard situation or circumstance having weight.
Allowing it to rest there.
And now,
With your eyes or just your mind's eye,
Look on this thing,
This situation.
It's in your hands.
You're holding it.
You're keeping it safe.
You're already creating a kind of container of love for it.
And it's outside of you at this moment.
Notice that.
It's in a place where you can look at it if you want to.
You can look at the dimensions of it.
You can notice it's separate from you.
And maybe you can get a little bit of perspective on it or a different perspective on it.
And I invite you to see what it needs or what you need in relation to it.
Just trust whatever wisdom you get in your heart or your intuition.
Whatever this situation is,
Whatever this hard thing might be,
I invite you,
If you can,
To bring some tenderness to yourself around it.
And now,
If you have a box or you'd like to imagine a box,
You can see if it feels right to set this hard thing into that box.
If you're imagining it,
You can imagine it being the most beautiful box you've ever seen or whatever kind of box is most appropriate for this particular thing.
Use your imagination.
Really try to see every detail of this box.
And when you're ready and if it feels right to you,
You can just set that hard thing inside that box and pull your hands back and allow the box to hold this thing.
You can come get it at any time.
The important part here is to set it down outside of yourself or to at least look at it outside of yourself to get a little bit of distance from it because the hard things can sometimes be super overwhelming and it's nice to get a bit of perspective by getting them outside of us.
May we always remember that we can come together in community to just begin to make a little bit of sense of the hard things in life.
May it be so.
Thank you so much for being with us today.
Your presence,
Your energy,
And your heart make all the difference in healing our world.
We love you.
Your presence,
Your energy,
And your heart make all the difference in healing our world.
Remember to breathe today.
Breathe and expand.
And I hope you join us again next time.
Please consider inviting a friend.
