In many places, the end of the calendar year is marked by a boisterous holiday season. There is a spectacular frenzy of energy, light, and color. As some families gather and some split apart, it can be a time of incredible joy, frustration, confusion, understanding, and love… there can be so many things to take in all at once. Sometimes there is sensory overload. Overwhelm.
Despair. There are moments in our lives when this feeling is unavoidable. Something happens- a misunderstanding with a loved one, a happy ending lost, senseless terror attacks… who knows why these things happen, but they do. And then for a flash, it appears: hopelessness.
Silence. Meditation. Retreat. In most eastern spiritualities, these are revered as essential aspects of enlightenment. And for good reason.
Communication is tricky. From a very young age, our thought patterns are wired a certain way based on the language we learn to communicate with. The vocabulary it holds, the grammatical structure it provides, even the way the words roll off our tongues; it all filters our perception of the world we create.