Love Will Come to You

I think one of the hardest things we are asked to do as human beings is let go and trust rather than holding on for dear life. I know from my own experience that when I can let go and trust, I always get what I need, but I still don't like that feeling of floating in a sea of uncertainty when there is a perfectly seaworthy vessel I could just ride -- if it weren't so important that I learn to swim. But it is important. And I don't just mean know how to keep myself from drowning in the water -- I've got that covered -- I mean REALLY swim: beautiful, efficient, strengthening, lengthening strokes that propel me nearly effortlessly through the water. And it isn't just important because one day, that vessel won't be there. Even when it is there, and I choose to ride on it, if I can do so knowing my own capability in the water, I'll be that much more content a passenger.

Yes kids, that's what they call an extended metaphor. You follow?

Maybe a little ditty from these two chicks can help. I used to listen to them all the time when I was younger, and I found particular comfort in the refrain of this song:

I say love will come to you
hoping just because I spoke the words that they're true
as if I offered up a crystal ball to look through
where there's now one there will be two

This song touches on another theme I've been grappling with, which is how to keep my heart open even when things start to feel precarious -- working with that edge, as I tell my yoga students about the postures -- is where we have the most capacity to grow, strengthen, open... And so, while I think the end of this song is really beautiful:

And I wish her insight to battle love's blindness
strength from the milk of human kindness
a safe place for all the pieces that scattered
learn to pretend there's more than love that matters

This time around, I'm going to drink from that milk of human kindness, trust that the pieces of my heart are right where they need to be, safe or not, and not pretend for one single moment that there's more than love that matters.