Now and again over the next few weeks, I will be introducing (or reminding for those already in the know) you to a few writers that can touch one’s heart and draw you into a deeper place of your soul.
Today I would like to invite you into the world of John O’Donohue. This is an excerpt from his classic, ANAM CARA.
Journey of the Soul
One of the qualities that you can develop, particularly in your older years, is a sense of great compassion for yourself. When you visit the wounds within the temple of memory, you should not blame yourself for making bad mistakes that you greatly regret. Sometimes you have grown unexpectedly through these mistakes. Frequently, in a journey of the soul, the most precious moments are the mistakes. They have brought you to a place that you would otherwise have always avoided. You should bring a compassionate mindfulness to your mistakes and wounds. Endeavor to inhabit the rhythm you were in at the that time. If you visit this configuration of your would with forgiveness in your heart, it will fall into place itself. When you forgive yourself, the inner wounds begin to heal. You come in our of the exile of hurt into the joy of inner belonging.
John ‘O’Donohue, excerpt from ANAM CARA
Inner belonging. What a powerful phrase. Inner belonging, brought to us by first our mistakes, and secondly, by our self compassion around those mistakes. That is an amazing outcome. That is redemption.
As we begin to move into the darker months of the year, it can feel like time to go within to those solitary spaces of the heart. Consider how you respond to your mistakes. Do you fight with them? Try to ignore them? Work very hard to not make them again? Instead, consider how offering yourself compassion and forgiveness begins the process of healing wounds and inspiring hope.
With great peace,
Andrea
Andrea Tatley 