I’m no guru. But I am learning that, for me, true gratitude is authentic expression within the act of living – even amid challenges, personal, interpersonal, global. It’s easier when I am centered and at peace; the challenge, of course, lies in finding that space when unsettled or disquieted, overly-stimulated or simply on autopilot. It’s too easy to be bombarded by suffocating, all-surrounding violence and anger right now it seems, making it difficult to breathe sometimes, let alone find the way to peace.
But I’m also learning there’s a reason why the sun sets everyday. As stuck as we might feel sometimes, we are, in essence, transient beings, nomads seeking peace: that centered space of peace and love. Acceptance has to be a part of finding that peace. Acceptance doesn’t mean resignation or apathy as a response to the personal world in which we live; rather, acceptance is personal responsibility. What is the personal responsibility for me in each moment that I find so suffocating? Is it a call to personal action? Is it a call to be still? Is it a call to forgive? Is it a call to dive in deeply into the moment to learn from it, be bathed, be refined by it, as much as we want to turn away or hide from it? I think, in each case, it is a call to let it go – to let the sun set; for a new day is guaranteed to follow.
I’ve always loved the way poet e.e. cummings expresses it:
let it go – the
smashed word broken
open vow or
the oath cracked length
wise – let it go it
was sworn to
go
let them go – the
truthful liars and
the false fair friends
and the boths and
neithers – you must let them go they
were born
to go
let all go – the
big small middling
tall bigger really
the biggest and all
things – let all go
dear
so comes love
– e.e. cummings
So comes love. So comes peace. So comes that space we seek where gratitude is an authentic expression of living fully. Rich blessings for a Thanksgiving where we find that space of acceptance, peace, love.
Carolyn is an educator and learner at heart. She is mom to two young adults and holds
every moment as a precious gift. Without one specific religious or spiritual affiliation, she is an open, present, continual learner in spiritual practice.
Black and white sunset photograph, © Carolyn Venema, 2018
