I made this hearthshaped-labyrinth on my rooftopgarden (photo: Fanny)
The world as we live it, is pushed to its extremes. It is time now to explore our deepest emotions and navigate with them for a while. Because when we do this (work), we work for the sake of the world.
Our emotions are energy in motion. We all share the same energyfield, and our emotions are part of it. They can get stuck or become fluid as we work with these energies. My emotions are mine and at the same time they are your emotions too. We all have our stories, that are personal and shaped by the communities we lived in: our families, schools, neighbourhoods where we were raised. And where we were told what to feel and where we sometimes felt the opposite, where actions of others provoked feelings, whether it was in a loving or loveless environment.
We can look at those feelings as experiences in growing up and in daily life, they are like stories. In stories mythological figures, animals or other archetypes can play a role. And on an even deeper level the emotions in itself are archetypical feelings. They have the potential to bring us to, what Jung calls, our deeper self, a numinous space. This deeper self is where the I meets the world, where my inner work contributes to worldwork, as would Mindell say.
This morning in our supervision group we were all caught in emotions as there were: the (not) knowing, the wanting to do right although there is no right or wrong, the (im)patience, the feeling of terror, the need for recognition and deep love. We were invited to go deeper into ourselves and dig for the gold within. To ask ourselves what these feelings need. I invite you to do the same and look at your feelings not as particular and private, but as feelings that rule the world right now. And see if you can find in yourselves answers to what these feelings need, what you need, what the world needs. The deeper wisdom that lies waiting to be awakened.
For me, I found one of my answers reflected in this quote by bell hooks, who’s book All about love I have read several times. She is an inspiring woman. Bless her!
Love has always been an important word for me personally as well as in all the things I wrote on intercultural competence, on education, on being a trainer. Love is a very truthful word, it speaks the truth on its own. And on top of that, I have put meaning on the letters of the word as well. It is in Dutch. LOVE stands for Lef, Ootmoedigheid, Verbeelding and Erkenning. Translated: Courage, Humility, Imagination and Recognition. What stood out for me this morning is Lef, Courage. The word Courage is family of the Latin word for heart, Cor, isn’t that beautiful? What I want to do the coming days is practice hearthbreathing more often and do heartmeditation, practice loving kindness as much as I can in my small and bigger worlds. And live courageous, whatever that will mean. I’ll let it unfold.
What I do see right now is that we need courage in our world. Courage to see the real damage the virus and its measures have caused, the inequalities it amplifies, the endless mourning about losses of all kind it provokes, the well of creativity it opens, the silence that happened out of the blue, people identifying with nature more often. Let’s have the courage to face all of this with equanimity, with a courageous heart!
Let this be an invitation to you: open up to your deeper feelings and navigate with them… Curious to know what you will discover…
Fanny Matheusen
Inspiration thanks to my fellows in the eldercommunity of Lewis Deep Democracy, with special thanks to Myrna Lewis.