The writer is noticing how hard, painful and confusing life is feeling for many in her world, both those she works with therapeutically and others – and how this is often her experience too at the moment. Lots of change and loss happening. So Matt’s words here have a lot of resonance. His counsel feels gentle, loving, wise and profound.
Some of our readers have a difficulty reading Facebook links for some reason, so here is the text:-
‘There are times when the ground has fallen away, and there are no longer any reference points from which to make sense of what is happening. The narratives are conflicting, the feelings are contradictory, and the path forward is hazy. It’s as if you can’t access what was so clear from even a few days ago.
All of the work you’ve done – the surrendering that has happened, the healing you have experienced… the forgiveness, the insights, the discoveries, the realizations… for some reason, it’s no longer in reach. It’s as if you’re being asked to start over.
There is a sense that some sort of veil is parting, but what is coming next has not yet been given. At times it feels so creative in the unknown, but at other times it is disorienting there, and the longing for resolution burns through your body.
Rather than struggle against the uncertainty, allow yourself to rest inside it. There is a refuge there, though it is hidden and may not be accessible via ordinary means. But you can reach it through a portal inside your heart.
Stay close to what is alive now, even if what is there is flat, numb, and confused. For these are special visitors of aliveness, and operate outside conventional awareness. They serve to open and close dimensions of your vulnerability that have fallen outside your reach.
Listen carefully to the invitation, as it arrives in a thundering silence: Today may not be a day for answers, but to let your heart break open to the vastness of the question.’
Matt Licata
Palace Gate Counselling Service, Exeter
Counselling Exeter since 1994
Palace Gate Counselling Service Blog 