Life is not the Enemy
I am sometimes afraid of life. The suffering of family, of friends, of communities in pain, of a warming earth. My own.
In an attempt to avoid suffering, I build an armored box around myself that says no to the uncertain fluidity of life.
Sometimes, I try to escape. My body tries to help me do this: my back hurts or my left hip. I look at my phone or take care of tasks.
Sometimes, I move in closer to fix. Rather than slowing down, I work harder and faster.
Armoring, escaping, and fixing are efforts to avoid suffering. Life isn’t supposed to be like this.
And yet. Life is like this.
It’s not our fault. Nothing is wrong. Life is not the enemy.
But resisting hard feelings of fear, sadness, and anger comes at a cost. Life is made smaller. So are we.
What happens if I just show up — with no agenda and as best I can — to it all?
Maybe sometimes we don’t need to grasp at comfort within difficulty; maybe sometimes we are just uncomfortable.
— Lyanda Lynn Haupt, Rooted: Life at the Crossroads of Science, Nature, and Spirit