In a Time Like This

….what else matters besides being kind to ourselves and kind to others?

As we mourn the violent murder of George Floyd and so many other innocent people of color, amidst a pandemic that is hitting black and brown communities hardest, we descend into an economic depression. Rage naturally erupts from these wretched injustices and lack of dignity.

All of our emotions can be tapped for wisdom, but they must be fully felt and intimately known.   Pema Chodron uses an ice metaphor. If love and openheartedness are flowing water, then losing control in fear, anger and despair are like ice—which blocks and obstructs.

We must move toward the ice and meet it; only kindness and warmth can melt it. The melted ice becomes flowing water and the source of our basic goodness and wisdom.

“If you’re invested in security and certainty, you are on the wrong planet.”

Pema Chodron, former New Jersey housewife turned Buddhist nun and author