“Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy.” – Joseph Campbell

These are trying times. How easy it can be to give up and into the sorrows of the world. The lack of fairness and justice can unbalance us and drag us down. People who do horrible things are rewarded, and people trying to do the right thing get run over. They say ignorance is bliss for a reason. It’s lighter. The less you know, the less responsible you feel, the easier it is to just focus on what’s in front of us. The more we know, the more we begin to see what’s at stake, how all of our lives intersect in some way. We see more clearly the sorrows of the world and the part we play in them, and doing nothing is still a contribution. There is tremendous pain in knowing the anger and venom and brutality in the world. So many suffer and that there is little to be done about it. Are we powerless in the face of all the darkness and suffering?

It’s times like these, when I get a glimpse of the scope of things, that the infinite sorrows almost crush me. I have to renegotiate what I can do. I have to remember what I can control. My life choices. Always it comes back to us and how we navigate the darkness, how we behave in the face of fear. We can always choose to begin again within, with our interior landscape, and nurture a sense of peace, belonging, and joy. We can re-center our being. That is the only answer, to any problem, big or small. It is the only thing we can control, our attitude and approach to life. We keep coming back to our self, what we can do to create more understanding, more clarity. This is the only possibility we have of acting as a light in the dark. We create something positive within us to grab hold of. I think that is the essence of living with joy in the face of all the sorrow. It’s not a party. It’s thoughtful and tempered. We let as much light as we can into our own lives, in our own unique way. We make conscious choices. We have that opportunity every moment of every day. 

This life and world can be overwhelming, it can break our hearts. It is easy to get lost in all the suffering. We need to remember to tend the interior with loving kindness, to be the best person we possibly can. We can cultivate, compassion, understanding, and forgiveness. We take care of ourselves so that we can care about others. We navigate the negativity and chaos with an open heart and unflinching honesty. Only by beginning within do we have a chance to make a difference with what really matters.

Here’s to letting more of the light in.

kb