It's okay to feel sad, to be uncertain about it all, to be melancholic, to lament, and to grieve.
Despite the madness of our world and a collective disembodiment to the blue shades of the spectrum, these states are not evidence that something is wrong with you, that you have failed, that you need to meditate more, pray harder, become better at staying in the present moment, manifest the opposite of sadness, or that you are lost or beyond redemption.
It is high-voltage evidence that you are alive, with a tender beating heart, subtle and perceptive mirror neurons, and senses that are open to the chaotic glory of being a human being who is simultaneously broken and whole.
Just in this one moment, be sad. Fully. Not partially. Go inside the sadness. Find the sad one there. Speak with them, listen to them, feel what they are feeling, see what they are seeing, stay embodied to the reality that you / your body is a vessel within which the orphaned parts of psyche and soma can come to rest.
Separate a bit from the parts you are becoming aware of so you do not fuse with them. This way you can dare to go close, but not too close, but close enough to have intimacy without fusion. Relating to and in relationship to the sadness, hurt or rage, without merging. In this way you are able to maintain your integrity and perspective. Sense into the boundary, the edge, the threshold . . . it is provocative . . . but not flooding. Enter the middle. Hold the broken pieces. Let your attention illuminate what they can bring into awareness. These parts, too, are filled with light and will reflect previously unseen or unknown facets of you back to you.
Sadness is not something you need to fix, cure, or transform. It need not be healed . . . just held. You need not shift sadness into some “higher” state or apply teachings so that it will yield into something else. Sadness it is simply energy, frequency, vibration . . . complete and pure on its own.
With awareness and breath, bring your attention into your belly, your heart, your throat. Follow sensations into the core of the emotion. Track the sensations, the images, and the raw, shaky life that is longing to be held. Listen.
This journey of attention will reveal sadness to be what it is; wisdom . . . knowing . . . and a bridge into to compassion and peace.
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