Kindness Found

Day 88: Kindness Found

“That is my prayer to God everyday: Remove the veils so I may see what is really happening here and not be intoxicated by my stories and my fears.” – Elizabeth Lesser

We all tell stories. Perhaps we even prepare our stories in anticipation of a certain meeting, interaction or person. We also all have fear in us, for some it is well hidden or dealt with in a productive way, for others it keeps them stuck. Regardless, if we were to drop our stories and share our fears, we might be surprised at the common threads we all share. We probably all have similar fears, insecurities and struggles. If we were able to be vulnerable and share our feelings rather than our story, new connections would surely form and from there, joy and happiness would flow, at least that has been my experience.

I am currently taking a yoga/group therapy/empowerment class at a wonderful yoga studio called Bloom Retreat in the San Francisco Bay Area. The class is called The Practice. It is a class that is part yoga, part group therapy and part showing up and embracing who and where we are in this moment. We are encouraged to drop our stories and share how we really feel. It is a place where we get to show up and let go of our roles and our stories, while embracing our fears and receiving love and support from like minded women.

Through this experience, I have found that we do in fact all share similar fears, wishes, and ambitions. We share a common thread of wanting more out of life, wanting to show up in our own skin and know that it is good enough. We all want to love and be loved. We all want to be understood and seen. We want to be able to show up as we are: happy, sad, excited, scared, or insecure. I have also learned that by being vulnerable community, respect and connections are created.

We are all of the same cloth, the same breath, the same earth, the same universe. We are all connected. We are all kind.

Jennifer Palazzo

Photo Courtesy of FreeImages.com and The Very Kind Nicholas Kmoch