Recently , when I was out and about I came across an article in a little magazine, written by a psychotherapist, she was discussing in everyday language, the behaviour some of us have or may be experiencing in coming out, to what we knew before the pandemic as ‘normal’ .
I have, throughout my life to date, had a love for metaphor, finding it a holding and containing way of dealing with complex issues. Whilst metaphor does not totally describe these issues it can help one to manage them while we work through them , either for ongoing management of the same, or for resolution of our difficulties, thus I found myself searching for some of these mechanisms in the notion of coming out of a cave, and indeed on having, or wanting to go back in.
Reflection is still ongoing, as it can be easy to be quick to run through such ideas and lose some of the meaning, or meat they have to offer. Maybe metaphor needs to be seen as a containing package we return to many times, seeing it differently and yet in a similar way each time.
Last weekend I was watching a newer version of’sense and sensibility’, in which Eleanor gets caught in the rain, and takes refuge in a cave. I was already reflecting on the above matters, and consequently felt interested in the idea of the cave as a container, a hiding place, a place to rest, to shelter, and a place of safety from the pressures of the outside world.
It is important to note that we have an internal world and an external world, and we need to balance one with the other but frequently we may struggle with this corresponding to the chaos and trauma in the world by becoming chaotic ourselves.
It is for these reasons that we have, in the previous reflections spent time referring to living and learning of the meditative life, such understanding and living out of the ideas helps us to contemplate what is happening, and to balance our recovery . Balance is a key word in walking in recovery which flows through all our deliberations and reflections.
Balance in the midst of chaos is rather like being on a seesaw with a mind of its own, or being on it with too big a person to match you on the other end. It is when we feel like this that we can shelter in the cave inside ourselves and restore our balance. Take this idea and allow yourself to withdraw when needed so that you are renewed to continue on your journey.
I am going to continue this reflection in the next blog!
REST!
aoibheann thoughtful reflections 