Go There - Sarah Carlson

Don't go there - worst advice ever.
At least it was for me.
In truth,
it became vital to go into
that which was causing my dis-ease.
You can wrap it up,
store it away,
deny its existence.
But there IS there,
will continue to be.
It's not easy to take the leap.
You'll need support and love,
but when the time is right,
when you hear the call or
feel the tug
go there.

You'll gather what is necessary,
enabling you to take
what there has to teach
and utilize it for good.
Over time you will discover
slivers of understanding,
shards of insight,
specks of wisdom
that, together,
provide illumination and peace.
There has virtues all its own
that will mingle and mesh with
here and now
revealing the beauty
of a familiar landscape
anew.
So go there -
wander and wonder,
explore and examine,
and in time,
restore and recover.

Sarah Carlson

~

Sarah's husband suddenly died 15 years ago leaving
her alone with 2 kids to raise, having to carve out a life
for herself.  She turned to writing poetry to express her
process of facing into life...

~

My note:  In the Buddhist tradition, as I understand it, and I am not a Buddhist, when we are facing a "darker" place, the "remedy" is to face it and embrace it.  There is no condemnation or judgment for *feeling* the way we do, about any situation.  There is no denial of our feelings, there is no "prescription", or "non-dual" script to follow to realize or "awaken" to our True Nature/Self, thereby "avoiding" or "erasing" our feelings; nor are there admonitions to be in the Here and Now.  There is just being who we are in the experience we find ourselves in...

Something that some "spiritual" teachings don't teach: It's all allowed, the dark and the light, the totality of our lived experience.  It is self-compassion, not selfishness, to open ourselves to our feelings, and to sit with what has caused our "dis-ease" - to discover the cause of our suffering, despair, angst, fear, grief, sorrow, etc., individually and as a society.  And to be fiercely present to that from a compassionate heart, which we can then offer to another who is suffering.