The signs that summer is winding down are finally here. For me it’s the smell of roasting green chilies, the glittering lights of state fair carnivals dying away and people planning their trips to the mountains to see the aspens turn color. It normally is so bittersweet, but I have to say this year I am welcoming some blessed relief.  The summer has felt so heavy with its storms of grief that have been so personal and intense. We hear faint whispers of joy and progress, an enlightenment that we hope will overtake our fears but is never enough to lighten the load.  The heavy summer air punctuates our social media profiles, our nightly news, our conversations. That  gravity is almost too much for our hearts to bear anymore.

It’s hard to hold our own against the rising tide and many of us are simply surviving. And in these last moments of summer, we turn to meditation in search of the peace that we just cannot find in the world. 

At first it feels great because we create a safe bubble for ourselves, a sanctuary of peace. We might disengage from the world into order to preserve what calm we can muster. We accept that the past is over and embrace gratitude for our present. It’s precious and we work to protect it from the evils of the outside world. 

Yet, one of the consequences of meditation and mindfulness is that we become more aware of our connections to everything else. By creating a relationship with ourselves, we are better able to notice an interconnectedness with the world. We might start to feel the pains and the joys of others around us. We become receptive to different perspectives. We start to rise above our daily problems and see the world differently than we did before. And it feels good in part because our bubble has allowed us to feel safe and secure in exploring these depths.  

Meditation is above all, an action. It is a choice to engage with our inner world, to allow wisdom to shine forth from the stillness. It is also an act of courage and resolve because we often come face to face with our fears, our patterns, our egos.  We experience and accept our own humanity; which makes it possible for us to see and accept others’. We let go of mistakes making it easier to seek and provide forgiveness. We see our own hearts as worthy of love, making it easier for us to give love.

 

The challenge of meditation is to leave our safe bubble to share these lessons with others. A risky endeavor to be sure: What if our safe space disappears once exposed to the world out there? What if the peace we’ve created  is broken at the first chance?

What if … you knew that you could re-build? That the path to peace will always be available and waiting for us? What if the real risk is not in the opening of our hearts, but in the failure to open them?

Think back to a moment of darkness in your life: that moment of hollow loneliness and unforgiving despair. What did you need most in that moment? A sign that everything would be okay? A good laugh? Someone to just be present with you? What made a difference? 

Whatever it was you needed in that moment, be that for someone else this week. You don’t have to take on the world single-handedly. Just share your light with someone who might not have otherwise seen it.

Let go of attachment to an outcome and just be fully present as only you can be. Flow with the currents of shared vulnerability. Share your own truth. Engage moments of injustice with the voice of compassion, listening to the needs of  the oppressed. Create art, share music, weave stories to communicate your heart. Be a relief hitter for the empathy warriors who are running on empty. By approaching life from a place of gentle stillness and enthusiastic peace, we create space for others to catch their breath and listen to their own hearts.

The promise of meditation is not simply to exist, but to exist with purpose. It challenges us to complete the discovered connection to the human spirit with words and actions not just thoughts and prayers. And when we do, we become so much more than the heavy-hearted, grieving souls we started as. We become the  lighthouse on the horizon, letting those in the darkness know that hope is in reach. 

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Bio: Janet is a Colorado native, mother of two, mediator and compassionate attorney who loves laughter, bringing others joy, finding the miraculous in the ordinary corners of life and serving in humanity with dignity and care. She can be found at @SharpSweetBella on Twitter where she geeks out about the intersections of spirituality, sexuality, law, politics and pop culture.