“When we know what changes our own hearts, we have a clue about the world we’d like to inhabit and how each of us can contribute to that vision.”

Getting right to the heart of it here, this month I offer reflections about “dismissive positivity”. Some of you may know what it is and know how it feels in your body when you express or receive it. It’s important to name it. An example?

What does it mean to you?

Stephen Levine was one of my first spiritual teachers. His teachings were filled with the word “mercy”. That word is back in my vocabulary and it startles people when I use it. In some languages it translates into “pity”, in others it means “grace” or “unrelenting kindness”. The word “mercy” has a religious quality to it and perhaps that’s one of the reasons it’s not heard as often these days.

I’ll get right to it…

We must all take good care of ourselves. It’s quite simple. Those of us with the good fortune to tend our inner lives, nourish our hearts, and give back to others, must.

Here are a few suggestions:

First, limit media exposure. Regardless of whether news is from the left or right on the political spectrum, all media outlets traffic in soundbites and less than factual statements. The complexities of our world cannot be conveyed in soundbites.

A lovely woman in the midst of a somatic movement training came to me recently for a session. (everyone I work with is lovely!) I was instantly touched by her vulnerability as she shared with certainty that she has no emotional intelligence. Her openness conveyed to me that she had plenty of emotional intelligence.

I grew up with a strong “holding space”: I was held by the land upon which I grew, the air, birds, river, trees, thunderstorms, and winter snows. I couldn’t imagine a world where people didn’t experience this kind of “holding space”, where people couldn’t smell rain before it fell or hear the nuanced birdsong of morning, mid day, and evening.