In a previous blog post, I introduced you to my experience with The Healer’s Art curriculum at UC Davis. Last week, our class focused on mystery and awe. In our field, it can be easy to get distracted in the ways that we feel we are lacking. It’s easier to focus on the negatives — such as the things that we can’t change or the grief from losses that we endure or that our clients and patients experience. Grief is a natural process and, in our field, we confront it on a regular basis.
We oscillate between contentedness and difficulty. Yet, I’ve learned that when you’re content, it is important to revel in that for a bit and appreciate the feeling. Don’t let it slip away because you don’t think you deserve to feel happy at that moment. And, at the same time, accept sadness for what it is, too. Take a moment to truly embrace that feeling, because it’s real and raw and beautiful in its own way. It means that something truly mattered. And then, when you’ve allowed yourself the time to acknowledge its presence, take a deep breath and then let the feeling go because sadness doesn’t need to govern you and you allowed it to serve its purpose for that moment. And even when sadness comes, you’re making progress. You are allowing yourself to feel, and that is both mysterious and awesome in its own right.
The Healer’s Art has shown me that life is made up of peaks and valleys, and even when things become difficult, things will look up again. Yet, in between the peaks and valleys, most of life is composed of pretty ordinary moments that have the potential to become extraordinary based on how we look at them.
Whether it’s seeing a beautiful sunset, riding horses, or treating a puppy during its first veterinary exam, we each have little moments every day that remind us why we’re here and what we work so hard for. Each of us are making a difference every day, whether we realize it or not — that is powerful. We are powerful.
