Many of you have sent e-mails telling me that in reading stories and poems or watching videos on Catching Courage, you hear whispers from your own souls. Those e-mails mean a lot to me.
This crazy life can wear grooves in our souls. In our darkest hours—and at the summit of our joys—we need to know that others understand what we are experiencing. That others have been there before us and found a way through it.
I’ve felt foolish or guilty or inadequate entirely too many times in my life. That’s when I’ve written to loving friends, confided in a journal, searched for help in a book, or had a heart-to-heart talk over a cup of coffee.
So when I read this passage in Broken Open by Elizabeth Lesser, I just had to share it with you.
Since the beginning of history we human beings have gathered together, talking and crying, laughing and praising, trying to make sense of the puzzling nature of our lives. By sharing our most human traits, we begin to feel less odd, less lonely, and less pessimistic. And to our surprise, at the core of each story—each personal myth—we uncover a splendid treasure, a source of unending power and sweetness: the shining soul of each wayfarer.
[Elizabeth Lesser is co-founder of the Omega Institute in upstate New York. Broken Open is available through Amazon.]
