Hello Friends,
What’s next? That was my first thought when I heard that the U.S. Supreme Court had reversed Roe vs. Wade last week. We knew it was coming, but it was still a shock. What other hard-won rights will also be stripped away? It feels discouraging and depressing, and yet we can’t let the woes of the world keep us down.
In her Sunday Paper, journalist and author Maria Shriver shared her thoughts on maintaining balance during these difficult times. Here’s a poignant quote from her column:
We, the People—and We, the Women—certainly need to find our balance right now. I know prices and interest rates are soaring, gun violence is surging, political opinions are raging, and the Supreme Court is overturning long-held laws of the land. But we need to be the steady, solid ones. We need to gather ourselves and do whatever we can to keep our wits about us and our hearts open.
Maria also shared a short talk given by Ram Dass that I thought you might find encouraging. Titled “How to Keep Your Heart Open in Hell“, he discusses the reason for suffering in the world and how to keep our hearts open in the midst of it.
Click on the image below to hear the beautifully illustrated talk.
How do we find balance, both personally and as a society? How do we find common ground on which we can all agree? And how do we keep our hearts open when we feel angry, threatened, fearful or sad? This seems to be the challenge for all of us right now when things seem to be so divisive.
How do you keep an open heart? I’d enjoy hearing your thoughts. You can share them with us in the comments section below.
With love and appreciation,
Cassandra
Painting at top: “On Angel Wings,” diptych, 20 x 48 inches, repurposed acrylic latex paint on canvas
Thank you…
Thanks, Margie. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
It is very difficult to keep an open heart during these days while it feels as though our country is being taken over by lunatics. So much hatefulness and anger. So much self-absorbtion. I feel the burden of having to fix everything, save everything, is overwhelming at times. I’m attempting to find small joys each day, which I’m reminded of by a friend. I suppose that if we cannot nurture ourselves, what good are we to anyone else.
Thanks for posting this.
Hi Francie. Yes, it is difficult to keep an open heart, and I agree that it feels overwhelming. I try to focus on my little part of it, which seems completely inadequate given the enormity of the problems, but there’s not much else I can do. I like your idea of finding small joys each day. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!