There is a beautiful article floating around social media about grief… I have also been seeing so many posts from friends and others about grieving, sadness, this collective feeling we’re all experiencing. This tiny tiny virus has brought the world to its knees. Tears are being shed openly, frustrations voiced, and Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’ stages of grieving are surfacing again.
I’ve been in awe of the connections since the beginning. The virus is said to affect the lungs... shortness of breath, pressure on the chest, unable to take a full deep breath, pneunomia. Our lungs… our communication with the outside world… breathe in… breathe out… In recent months, climate change, mama nature, mama earth, our trees and forests and oceans have been on our mind… our trees, called the lungs of mama earth. This collective emotion of grief and sadness has been swirling around for years, within every one of us. And now the world has stopped and said “stop… feel… heal…”
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, every organ has an emotion connected with it… an emotion that tends to surface more prominently when that organ is not feeling in balance. For the lungs, that emotion is grief and sadness… our breath… our life force.
With each news report, each case we hear about, everything that is happening, we are holding our breath. And it also feels like the world is exhaling a collective sigh, a sob, a grief as we face so many unknowns.
So feel all that you’re feeling… move through it in whatever way you need to… do what you need to do. There is no right or wrong way to go through this time. This is a new world for all of us. Do not hide from this grief and sadness. You do not need to be productive, you do not need to be positive all the time. I know I have gone through waves of sadness, anxiety, frustration, loneliness, worry. Know who you can reach out to for support. You are safe to share your vulnerability and open your heart. Let your lungs and breath release what you need to. Get those feelings “off your chest”. And know you are not alone. I see you … I hear you… we are all in this together.
https://hbr.org/2020/03/that-discomfort-youre-feeling-is-grief?autocomplete=true
