(Photo – Emma Shupper)
Beauty and pain are inseparable. Every darkness has a light – and it is our responsibility to discover both the darkness and the light.
By Emma Shupper
It seems that as we’ve gotten further along in the COVID pandemic, we are collectively and individually experiencing a simultaneous loss of hope and a sense of rebirth – in other words, growing pains. Our world is a crazy mess and also a beautiful work of art. The world does not have to be one thing – seemingly polarizing views can be true and harmonious. Growth and change cannot occur without some form of challenge and restructuring.
As we lose hope, we start holding on even more strongly to the narratives in our lives – our stories – in attempts to try to make sense of things or to reinvigorate some new form of hope. The problem lies, however, in holding on too tightly to these labels and identities as the world changes. Rather than accepting change, we start looking for people to blame or for something to numb the pain.
What would happen if, instead of trying to hold on to one thing, we began to re-write our narrative and to re-write the stories that we are telling ourselves. What would happen if we chose to create a new story out of the darkness?
It is clear that things in the world have changed, but how we choose to respond to this change will write the story for the future. As a society, I see that we’re going through a grieving process – a time of anger, resentment, pain, separation, and resistance to change. What is yet to come, however, is the change in our value system and a new definition of what it means to be human. Embrace the journey.
Emma Shupper, a former mechanical engineer, is a personal trainer and business owner with passion for helping others find meaning and clarity in their lives through the integration of movement, intuitive eating, and mindfulness.
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