I was watching a little one the other day.

She was sitting alone by the sidewalk’s edge, gripping tightly to her brand new, over-sized teddy bear.

“You must be sad,” said a woman in passing. “Sitting here all by yourself.”

“I’m not sad,” she scowled. And, pointing to the house behind she smiled, “They’re all right in there.”

Oh, my goodness — from the mouths of babes.

We’ve all felt loneliness at times, my loves. We’ve felt the sting of absence, the isolation of a disruption to routine. But, really what is the basis of this pain when — those we love aren’t very far at all?

In many ways, these ‘points of light’ become our reference point. Without them, we feel uncertain, lost and alone.

But, we are never alone, my loves. All that we ever truly needs resides in these depths within.

Maybe that’s loneliness? That feeling of groundlessness when the mind is unable to resolve itself? It’s not really the pain or the hurt, per se — but rather the wondering if we’ll ever find our way again.

But to think we’re incapable of ‘going it alone’, my darlings that is a common misunderstanding.

“We hear a lot about the pain of samsara,” shares Pema Chodron. “and we also hear about liberation. But we don’t hear much about how painful it is to go from being completely stuck to becoming unstuck.”

So, is it true that liberation can also seem painful? Even though, it’s exactly as we practice and wish — still, we cling tightly to this label of loneliness.

“I’m not sad, they’re all right in there,” she smiled.

Oh, my darlings there can be no truer wisdom. It is the lesson of the ‘middle way.’

Unless we are willing to detach from the limitations of label; to disentangle ‘heart’ from our habitual knee-jerk reaction — we may never know the wisdom these emotions are sharing:

An unchallenged look into our human soul.

When we are able to look without attribution — only then will we finally know our way.

In peace, my loves ~

Namaste ❤️