Kindness

Waking my heart

I am honoured to be a member of a virtues circle which meets fortnightly. We are six women coming together to use this gift of the virtues project to answer the question: How are you, really? It has been over a year that I have been participating. The generality of the group have been together from many years, many of them pillars of the virtues project since its early grassroots inception. In these precious circle sessions, a sacred space has been cultivated where we feel safe and encouraged to bare our souls during our time to share. The beauty of it is, is that we virtues mavens, respond with a virtues acknowledgement, honouring each other with these gems of character, by listening for the needs beneath the words that each person has shared. Our most recent session was yesterday evening and the virtue through which we viewed the happenings in our lives was kindness. That it appears for me today caused me to reflect on how my virtues circle has become a pillar of support and love in my life. It has emerged as a necessary reservoir of peace, joy and strength in which I get to languish on a regular basis and fill my cup with worthiness and belonging. Having had a phase of prolonged isolation and despair recently, I was so grateful to be able to share those feelings and story about how I long for more patience to sit with uncomfortable feelings that I have a habit of numbing through food. I had not been a good caregiver to myself. This I know is in my future somewhere, someday and I will get there. In the meantime, I smile at the wealth I have access to in the shape of friends in this circle who envelop me in warm, compassionate and caring sunshine.