Fear and love seldom
stand, shoulder to shoulder;
Its rare to laugh and
lie in the same breath.
But strength and weakness,
failure and success,
faith and desolation –
they are different ends
of a single stick.
To pick one up
is to receive both poles –
stark contrasts contribute
to a knowledge of the whole.
What is life but growing
wide and deep, so
open from weeping
that opposites, ambiguity,
and a thousand shade
of gray can co-exist
without despair?
Having just taken part in the Mindfulness Association Autumn Retreat – Embracing Change, I have been reflecting on impermanence and how everything changes moment by moment. The extreme contrasts we experience in life have never failed to fascinate me. The horror and the happiness of being human. The agony and the joy. Our ability to hate and be spiteful is outweighed by our immense capacity for love. And yet they live side by side. In us and around us. We are so complex. For me this poem elegantly articulates this capacity, and how we become richer and deeper from our life experiences.
Warmest Wishes
