“It is in the shelter of each other that people live”

We are relational beings. It is how we are made. For me, this Irish proverb says it eloquently: “It is in the shelter of each other that people live”.

We live in a world that is challenging, often confusing and frequently heartbreaking. It can seem that there are so many problems; from war to the quality of the air we breathe, that it can all be overwhelming. We ask ourselves, what can we do? How can we solve these seemingly insurmountable problems?

Maybe one solution is to shift our focus. Sometimes the small gesture can have an amazing healing power. I believe that the real juice of life is lived in the small day to day moments..the ones that we frequently miss in our headlong rush to achieve, to problem solve, to perfect ourselves. The warm shaft of golden, morning sunlight falling across the kitchen table. The sleepy smile of someone we love. The pleasure of hot water on our skin. And most amazing and powerful of all: the heart connection with another human being. This is the bedrock of sanity, the central axis that can bring the most disparate elements into balance and peace. Because for all that we cannot control in life (which is almost everything, in fact), the one thing that we can do is be sure that those who mean something to us, know that we love them.

We may not be able to fix the world, or even some of our own problems, but having a hand to hold or a friend who will listen to us, can remind us of our connectedness and what is truly important. And reaching out to another can soothe and nourish our own heart.

“Be a lamp or a lifeboat or a ladder. Help someone’s heart heal. Walk out of your house like a shepherd”   Rumi