I often wake around 3:38 a.m. On Monday morning I grabbed my phone to see the time (3:38 a.m.) and saw a horrific ABC news notification — 12 people gunned down in Las Vegas. Before I left the house at 6:30 a.m. the number had climbed to over 20 people. By the time the number reached 50+ victims, I was in empathy overload. I was paralyzed and unable to access my inner peace. I was overwhelmed by my sorrow-filled disbelief and the grief that shattered many connections in the peace cable of the collective. I felt the individual strands shred and the weave of the collective peace cable loosen as many of us experience empathy overload.
Later, after the pressure of my empathy overload was relieved, I reflected on both the violence perpetrated and my reaction to it. It was humbling, and a bit embarrassing, how unaware I was — how caught I became in the escalating chaotic uncertainty. By anchoring in the moment, I was able to feel how the upheaval obscured, and in some cases, severed fragile connections to peace.
I found myself wondering, “How do we strengthen our connection, individually and collectively, to peace? How do we stop getting carried away in the maelstrom?” The answer to both questions begins with the awareness that fear thickened fingers are unable to weave a cable of peace into the collective consciousness. When we release the fear, our spirit fingers, no longer swollen, become nimble enough to weave strands, ours and others, together into a cable of peace.
Peace starts with each of us — with our own fragile thread. Individual strands cannot be woven into a strong cable of peace unless we resolve the unsettled feelings within our self. We resuscitate peace by admitting our feelings of discord and angst. We do not stop with the identification of fears that obliterate our peace. We follow discord to its roots. We identify what is fueling our uncertainty and preventing us from being peace.
Discovering the roots of uncertainty and fear requires contemplative practice — those activities that focus our attention on the awareness of the sacred-extraordinary in our life. We might sit quietly, journal, go for a run, practice yoga — the list is an endless as your imagination. These activities help us enter the silent zone of clarity. Here we name the roots of our uncertainty and search for ways to release the tension in our personal strand of peace. Only when our strand is relaxed can we begin to weave it with others.
Keeping connected to peace requires mindful awareness. When we name what is stretching us beyond endurance, we identify what causes minute breaks in our strands and the threads of others. With this awareness, we move from reaction to response. Each time we respond, our power knits together the tattered ends of our individual strand. Strand repaired, our peace twines with the strands of others. The collective cable powers peace in an uncertain world.
Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is a Mindful Coach, Compassion Consultant, Professional Speaker, and Author who weaves her inner wisdom into all she touches. Vanessa offers Neural Synchrony™ sessions to assist clients in navigating their life paths with intuition. Contact Vanessa.
Her books are A Constellation of Connections: Contemplative Relationships and Engaging Compassion Through Intent & Action.
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Twitter: @fyrserpent / ©2017
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