Walking down the street this week, I passed a man who stopped, gawked, turned around on his bike, circled me, and catcalled. I instantly did a safety check, followed by an angry internal rant.
Are there other people around? Is he on drugs? Could he be armed? Am I safe? What is wrong with people? Why is this happening to me again? I would never do anything like this.
I walked away, fine, but shaken up and irritated that this is a daily occurrence for so many women.
And as I walked away, I connected back to my breath and calmed my nervous system. The anger slowly turned into love, the kind of love you have to work at. The kind of love that takes effort to find, but love nonetheless.
Oneness is easy in a beautiful room
It is easy to find love and oneness when we are in a beautiful room surrounded by spiritually connected people who provide a bright, shiny reflection of ourselves. It is the reflection we want to see, but the real work is finding the oneness in the most challenging moments.
When we are deep in a disagreement with our partners, friends, or parents. When we get cut off in traffic. When we see someone hurting the people we love. When we see social injustice. The moments are seemingly endless.
The harder practice
This week we are present to finding the oneness when it is exceptionally hard, digging deep and finding the love and connection rather than focusing on the hate. Taking a moment to connect to this person's heart and find understanding of their pain, rather than generating more hate and anger.
We do not have to be in agreement to find the love. We just have to understand.
Eckhart Tolle says it so beautifully: "Love is the recognition of oneness in the world of duality."
Where can you find a little more love this week?
