compassion heals.

Compassion heals because it lets us know that we are not alone. It bridges the gaps between human beings as if there hangs in the air, and penetrates our physical bodies, an ability, often beyond the limitations of language, to feel what another is feeling. Compassion heals both people involved as, in my eyes, a spiritual connection is formed. It feels like someone is embracing my insides—you know, my heart and soul, the stuff that matters most.

Last night I was having a beautiful conversation about… well, lots of stuff... the point is that I was overwhelmed by the existence of mutual compassion. Our stories and our experiences are vastly different, but aspects of our journeys have been almost eerily similar. In sharing our stories with one another, she said—I wish I could tell you that you’re beautiful and that you’re gorgeous and that you do deserve love; I wish I could rid you of any doubts. I can tell you ‘til the cows come home, but until you internalize it, it doesn’t matter what I say. I know it’s not that easy, but I wish it was.

She felt so much compassion for me that she wanted to rid me of my pain. She saw in me a human deservingness for love. Simultaneously, I saw the same in her.

Someone once had me do this exercise and I want to share it because I think that if you really surrender to it, it has the potential to bring you a little ray of light:

Think of someone you love to the depths of your heart and soul. Fill yourself with your love for them. Fill yourself with love until you feel as though you could burst. Think of a million reasons why you love them, and don’t think of any reasons not to love them wholly and completely. Now… give all of that love to yourself. Turn it around. Stop sending it outwards for a minute. Hold it; give into love. Give yourself that which you so fervently give to others. Take your own pain away as you give yourself permission to feel, give yourself space to feel, accept yourself as you are, and feel everything fully and deeply. Let it all wash over you and love yourself in it. Heal yourself by means of self-love and compassion.