“Some people mistake being loving for being a sap. Quite the contrary, the most loving people are often the most fierce and the most acutely armed for battle… for they care about preserving & protecting those goodly endeavors that cannot be allowed to perish from this earth…”
“The Dangerous Old Woman” by CP Estes

When I put those two words together “fierce compassion” it confuses people. How could we be both fierce & compassionate at the same time? My response is “how could we not be in this day and age?”

At the center of our being, is wholeness. This truth is present across all wisdom traditions. Whatever name you choose to call it, our True Nature, Awakened Heart, Self, Essential Self, etc. This wholeness dwells within us.

It is present and ever-shining.

That “Self” cannot be harmed, stained, erased, injured, or taken away.

Practices that support our inner life cultivate a refuge we can rely upon day in and day out. Without consistent training in what feeds our inner life we have nothing to rely on especially in times of crisis.

The Greek poet Archilochos said “We don’t rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training.” We could substitute the word “training” here with the words practices or rituals–the bottom line non negotiables that feed us regularly.

A Curious Question: Is it a habit or a choice?

Choice is when we can discern between a preference and a compulsion.

Somatic movement pioneer, engineer and scientist Moshe Feldenkrais made some keen observations about human behavior based on how we organize our bodymind for movement. And to be clear, how we organize for movement is how we organize for life. The same thought patterns, perceptions, and beliefs color everything we do.

Compassion and empathy: there’s confusion about these two qualities and with good reason, they are often used interchangeably. Given the amount of challenges and fatigue we face in our world today, it’s helpful to make distinctions between them. The third quality I’ll speak to here is self compassion.