to witness + thougths on brave in sadness, brave in love

image credit: here.

I have so many people in my life right now who are experiencing extraordinary heartbreak. Futures are uncertain, lives are lost or drastically changing, new ways of seeing/experiencing the world are slowly being born against a backdrop of complete sadness, confusion, and grief.

It’s hard to see a loved one in anguish, but I suppose in some ways it’s an honor to witness their strength, their courage, and their unending hope as they make their way through. Their hope and their courage shows that life is still beautiful, even inside the very center of its most challenging, painful moments. I am in awe of them, of their spirits, of their bravery and commitment to simply show up for whatever comes toward them (life) and to see it through the filter of what it is: full of sadness, yet full of beauty. There is room to honor all of it. Because we are human beings, because we are whole, and because life is rich with dimension, layers upon layers of history, love, heartbreak, and courage.

I am in awe of the magnitude of life. In awe of our capacity to handle it. In awe of my many friends and how they are choosing to see the delicacies, the tiniest of beauty (love, compassion, faith) in their hardest of moments while also completely honoring the darker sides of those moments (anger, fear).

I am reminded of the importance to be brave in sadness, brave in love – that we must sit with the wholeness of who we are and what we experience, that we must honor the beauty and the pain, that we can be sad yet grateful, angry yet compassionate, broken yet held in wholeness. This is life. This is what it means to show up. This is what it means to live with an open heart where love and fear are very close neighbors. This is what it means to honor every speck of every experience however heartbreaking. Brave in sadness, brave in love.

I’m so grateful to witness the beautiful lives all around me and the courage that it takes to see + feel, and choose to see + feel both the extraordinary gifts and heartbreak in our hardest of experiences. These lives, these friends, are extraordinary gifts to the intertwining of all of our souls. They are beacons of courage for all of us.