Be kind to yourself. No, really, do it. Be kind to yourself. Not just by having a glass of wine or by zoning out in any number of pleasant ways. Do stuff that truly enriches you.
As you read this portion of St. Francis and the Sow by Galway Kinnell, does anything about yourself come to mind--some piece of you that needs real kindness?
The bud
stands for
all things,
even for
those things that don’t flower,
for
everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing;
though
sometimes it is necessary
to re-teach
a thing its loveliness,
to put a
hand on the brow
of the
flower,
and retell
it in words and in touch,
it is lovely
until it
flowers again from within,
of
self-blessing.
We all need to be re-taught our own loveliness. Galway Kinnell suggests this can come by self-blessing.
Does that sound weird? Narcissistic? Shouldn't somebody else be blessing us? A friend, a lover, God, perhaps?
I think genuine, intentional self-blessing is incarnational. An act that embodies, makes present what's at the heart of creation anyway. It's being receptive to a reality meant to be absorbed, like corn in Kansas drinking in rainwater.
Mindful practice functions this way.
Breathing in I notice what hurts.
Breathing out I rest with what hurts.
Breathing in I soak up lovingkindness.
Breathing out I am grateful.
Breathe lovingkindness into your own heart as a sign, a sacrament. Be re-taught a loveliness that's been too long forgotten.
Be kind to yourself. No really.
Do this practice for 3 minutes, 3 times a day. More often and longer when needed.
(You can set an online meditation timer here)
(You can set an online meditation timer here)
