'Perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses'
Reading corner
We have no reason to distrust our world, for it is not against us. If it has terrors, they are our terrors. If it has an abyss, it is ours. If dangers are there, we must try to love them. And if we would live with faith in the value of what is challenging, then what now appears to us as most alien will become our truest, most trustworthy friend. Let us not forget the ancient myths at the outset of humanity's journey, the myths about dragons that at the last moment transform into princesses. Perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act just once with beauty and courage. Perhaps every terror is, in its deepest essence, something that needs our recognition or help. Borgeby gärd, Sweden, August 12, 1904 Letters to a Young Poet
Rainer Maria Rilke
Healing notes
Most of my life I have struggled with the idea that everything happens for a reason. I think I didn't believe in it because there seemed to be some cruelty in this. Why should bad things happen for a reason?
Then slowly over time I realised how much value there was in not seeing obstacles as just painful. Not to say, I learn from every difficult situation or that difficulty is rewarding somehow. Just yesterday I was telling my sister, maybe god could write on a chit of paper what I need to learn, attach it to a rock and throw it at me? I could learn that lesson then. This struggle of internal rumbling, learning from the rumbling and then reaching the lesson is long? Isn't there a shorter way to do it somehow?
I guess not?
Days when I realise how many years have gone by where I have felt like I am learning the same lessons over and over - it feels exhausting. It feels like I am stuck in a loop. There has to be a way to break this. Then I was flipping through Brene Brown's Rising Strong at my parents house. I read this book ages ago and felt I wouldn't remember it. I was wrong. Her words of wisdom had stayed with me. Particularly this one:
Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It is a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when recognise our shared humanity.
This made me realise that the understanding of my own depths was part of my understanding the depths of the world. The darkness and me aren't really so separate. So deeper into my depths I dove. Even on days when I didn't want to.
Then, there is this meme that told me, it is okay to take a break from self development. The break is not me letting myself down but the break is part of self care. I hope you will give yourself the break, be gentle towards yourself on bad days and allow for compassion in the way Brene Brown imagined and the transformation of nightmares to princesses the way Rilke imagined. <3
Unfortunately, I have barely cooked this week.
Eating many boiled eggs and sandwiches. This happens during exhausting weeks. Hopefully, next weeks will have more fun food experiments!
Dear you,
Have you been reading something that stayed with you? Do feel to drop into my inbox.
Grateful to have this space <3
Love, kindness and warmth,
Nidsitis
'I’ve been circling for thousands of years and I still don’t know: Am I a falcon, a storm, or a great song?' - Rainer Maria Rilke