I returned last night from Plum Village, the monastery in France I frequent. I’ll write more about it soon. But today, I want to share how I’ve been navigating my emotions and just to say hello.
As I traveled back, by train, then bus, then planes, I found myself watching, almost from afar, the emotions that had visited me throughout the month. I named them. I placed them in time. I traced their origins and their quiet disappearances. Each one had taken up space at some point, inviting me to look more deeply into myself.
Joy, happiness, gratitude, freedom, authenticity, love, peace, bliss… these were among the welcomed guests. But so were frustration, anger, disillusionment, uncertainty, contradiction, confusion, a great deal of sadness, nostalgia, and that ever-persistent, ever-painful illusion of romantic love.
Some arrived uninvited. They appeared at my door like old friends and let themselves in. Despite my preferences, I received them, held them, and served them tea. And in doing so, I realized again how we are always swimming in a sea of emotions, many of which remain unnamed. We feel them, often without knowing what they are. Still, they ask for space. To breathe. To enter. And eventually, to be shown out, gently.
It reminded me of a poem by Rumi that I’ve shared below.
Now that I’ve landed home, I want to connect with you again. Not that I didn’t before, but in the monastery, the world narrows. Presence takes over. Everything else fades away.
I leave you with this, for now:
May we learn to welcome the presence of unexpected visitors,
and the gifts they bring.
Guest House
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
– Rumi