Embracing Pain
Pain. There’s quite a lot of it in the world right now, so it seems rather trite of me to write about a toothache. Yet that is what has been grabbing my attention this past week: throbbing, stabbing, intense…and now a raw-skinned reminder of the tooth that is no longer there. How can one little part of the body cause so much pain?
As with most things, there are lessons to be learned here. I jokingly say a few of them: call dentist before weekend & take drugs sooner. But my real aha’s came during two memorable moments of deep letting go. The details of those moments seem unimportant now, but what they birthed in me seems unforgettable: as I surrendered to the pain and to the physical release of the tooth, my heart opened to a more expansive way of loving.
A toothache expanding my capacity to love…really? Somehow when I said goodbye to the tooth, in that single moment, I saw a number of old judgments and beliefs disintegrate in my mind. In that same moment, a host of other painful events, past and present, flooded through. It was as if a tsunami was washing out the old so something new could be birthed through me.
I’ve heard it said before that pain expands our capacity to love, but never have I connected with the possibility in such a way. Perhaps this is what is happening with our world right now: we are growing our collective capacity to feel compassion, to work together to rebuild cities, to somehow repair all these breaking hearts. Perhaps we are birthing the possibility of a new way of loving.
When I look into the eyes of a dear friend whose body is being ravaged by cancer and a number of other complications, I see such a depth of love that I know this connection between pain and love is real. And while the pain of an infected tooth seems so insignificant in comparison, I am grateful for the lessons it brings.
Embracing the pain, the love, and everything in between. ~Sor’a
Q: How do you keep SHINING when you are in pain?