Post by lover on Feb 4, 2009 8:11:59 GMT -8
Thought this would fit in nicely here. I copied these 5 mirrors from the book The Divine Matrix by Gregg Braden
The Second Mirror
Reflections of what we JUDGE in the moment
"Recognize what is in your sight, and that which is hidden from you will become plain to you." The Gospel of Thomas
In the 70's one of my martial-arts instructors shared the secret of reading an opponent: "Each person in competition is a mirror to you. As your personal mirror, your opponent will show you who you are in the moment. By observing how he approaches you, you're seeing his reaction to how he perceives you." Throughout my life, I've remembered my instructor's words and thought about them often. Later on I began to apply what he had said about competition in the dojo to the way people behave in life. In 92 I found myself embroiled in an experience where this mirror made no sense at all...it was then I discovered the subtlety of the second mirror of relationship.
In the fall of that year, three new people came into my life within a very short period of time. Through them, I would experience three of the most powerful as well as painful relationships that I've known as an adult. Although I didn't recognize it at the time each person would become a master teacher for me in a way that I never imagined he or she would or could. Together, they taught me the single lesson that assured me that my life would never be the same again. Even though each relationship served as a mirror for me at precisely the right time, I initially didn't recognize what they were teaching me.
The first relationship was with a woman who had come into my life with such similar goals and interests to mine that we chose to live and work together. The second one was a new professional partnership that was to provide much needed support for setting up and organizing seminars throughout the country. The third relationship was a combination of a friendship and business arrangement, which involved a man caretaking my property when I traveled for work in exchange for a place to live in one of my unused buildings that was under renovation.
The fact that these relationships came to me at the same time should have been my clue that something was up - something big. Almost immediately, all three began to test my patience, assertiveness and resolve. I felt like these people were making me crazy! With each one, there were arguments and disagreements. Because I was traveling so much, my tendency was to discount the tensions and avoid looking for a resolution. I found myself taking a "wait-and-see" attitude until I returned from my next trip. When I did, things were always just the way I'd left them and sometimes even worse.
At that time, I had a routine that I followed when I came into the airport after each seminar. I would collect my gear from the baggage area, withdraw enough cash from the ATM for gas and a meal, and begin my 4 to 5 hour drive home. On one particular trip, however, something happened that brought everything in these relationships to a focus. After collecting my
bags I went to the ATM to make my withdrawal. To my horror, the machine quietly printed a receipt that told me my account didn't even have enough money for a 20$ bill for gas!
This was especially horrifying, because I'd recently scheduled contractors to begin renovations on the 100-year old adobe buildings on my property, and they'd just been paid with checks written on that very account. In addition to mortgage, office, travel and family expenses, the machine was telling me that there was nothing - absolutely nothing - to cover any of my other obligations. I knew that it had to be a mistake. I also knew that at 5.30pm on a Sunday afternoon in New Mexico nothing could be done - everything was closed until Monday. After convincing the lot attendant that I would repay the long-term-parking bill by mail, I began my extended drive home and thought about what had happened.
When I called my bank the next morning, I got even more of a surprise. To my disbelief, the zero balance was no mistake; there was truly nothing there. In fact, there was less than nothing - an unauthorized withdrawal by the woman I had entrusted with my business had completely emptied my account. Because of the penalties that had been applied to each one of the overdrawn checks, I also suddenly found myself with a negative balance cause by hundreds of dollars in overdraft charges.
I felt shock and disbelief. Quickly my emotions turned to anger, and then the anger became rage. My mind raced with thoughts of all the people whom I'd written checks to and how I couldn't honor those obligations. The violation of my trust and complete disregard for me and my commitments was more painful than I expected.
To make matters worse, later that day my business partnership reached a boiling point. As I opened my mail and looked over an accounting for seminars that I had already completed, I found discrepancies in the expenses, and soon I was on the phone fighting for my share of our proceeds, line item by line item.
During the same week, I discovered that the tenant living on my property was pursuing interests that were not only in direct opposition to the agreements that we had made, but they were also frowned upon by the state of New Mexico. Clearly I could no longer ignore what was happening in any of my relationships.
THERE'S MORE THAN ONE MIRROR
The next morning, I walked down the dirt road leading away from my property to a large mountain that looms over the valley behind my home. In silent prayer, I stepped carefully over the deep mud ruts and broken gravel, asking for the wisdom to recognize the pattern that I was being shown so blatantly even though I couldn't see it. What was the common thread that wove these relationships together? Remembering what my martial-arts instructor had said, I asked myself, What is the common reflection that these three people are showing me through their actions?
Immediately, words began to race through my mind, some so quickly that they disappeared, while others stood out clearly. Within seconds, 4 words emerged above all others: honesty, integrity, truth, and trust. I asked myself more questions: If these people are mirroring what I am in the moment, are they showing me that I'm dishonest? Have I somehow violated integrity, trust and truth in my work?
As I asked the questions in my mind, a feeling welled up from deep within my body. Inside of me, a voice - my voice - was screaming, No! Of course I'm honest! Of course I have integrity! Of course I'm truthful and trustworthy! These things are the very basis of the work that I share with other people.
In the very next moment, another feeling came over me - fleeting at first, then clearer and stronger, until it was solidly present for me to see and know. In that moment, the mirror suddenly became crystal clear: The three people I had so skillfully drawn into my life weren't showing me what I was in the moment, instead each one of them was showing another, more subtle reflection that no one had told me about. Through our clashes of belief and lifestyle, rather than showing to me what I am, they were showing me the things that I judge! These individual were showing me the qualities that triggered a big charge in me - the very qualities that I felt they'd violated.
At that time in my life, I did have an enormous judgment on the way people held themselves accountable to the attributes of honesty and integrity. In all probability, my charge had been building since childhood. In a moment, my past experiences suddenly became clear. Immediately, I remembered all the times these same qualities had been violated in my life: past romances in which partners weren't truthful about other people in our lives, adult promises that were made and never honored, well-intentioned friends and corporate mentors who'd made promises that they could never keep in a million years... my list went on and on.
My judgments regarding these issues had been building for years on such a minute level that I hadn't even recognized them. Now they were at the core of something I could not ignore! The magnitude of having an empty bank account was the assurance that I would have to understand the message of these relationships before I could move on in life. that was the day I learned the subtle yet profound mystery of the second mirror of relationship: The mirror of things that I judge in life.
DO YOU RECOGNIZE YOUR MIRRORS?
I invite you to examine your relationships with the people who are closest to you. Next, acknowledge the traits and characteristics that irritate you to no end and just seem to make you crazy. Once you do so, ask yourself the following question: Are these people showing myself in this moment?
They may very well be. If so, you'll know it as your "gut" feeling immediately. However, if the answer is no, they may be revealing something even deeper and more powerful than the mirror of who you are- they might be showing you the reflection of the things that you judge in life. To simply recognize and acknowledge that the mirror exists is where the healing of your judgments begin.
HEALING WITH THE CASCADE EFFECT
The day after I recognized the mirror of my judgments, I visited a friend who lives and works on the nearby Taos Pueblo. One of the oldest indigenous communities in North America, this site has been continuously inhabited for at least 1,500 years. Roberts (not his real name) had a shop withing the Pueblo itself and was a tremendously skilled artist and craftsman. Displayed through his store were the sculptures, dream catchers, music, and jewelry that had been part of his tradition for centuries before thee was even an "America."
As I walked in, he was working on a sculpture nearly seven feet tall that was standing in the aisle beside him. After saying our hellos, I asked about his family and how business had been, and we enjoyed a few minutes of catch up talk. He returned my questions, asking me what was happening in my life. I shared the events of the past week, the three people, and the missing money. After listening to my account, he thought for a few moments and then told me a story.
"My great-grandfather," he began, "hunted buffalo on the plains of northern New Mexico," I knew that he must have been talking about a long time ago, because as far as I knew, no buffalo had roamed that part of the state for years. "Before his death, he gave me his most valuable possession: the head of the first buffalo that he ever hunted as a young boy." Robert when on to tell me how this buffalo head had become a treasure of his as well. After his great-grandfather died, it was one of the few tangible relics that connected him with the heritage of his past.
One day a gallery owner had come to visit Robert from the nearby town. Seeing how beautiful the head was, she asked if she could use it as part of a display in her gallery, and he had agreed. After a few weeks had passed, Robert hadn't heard from his friend and went into town to see how she was doing. To his surprise, when he arrived at the gallery, nothing was there. The doors were locked, the windows were covered and the shop was out of business. The gallery owner and his buffalo head were both gone. Robert looked up from his sculpting long enough for me to see that he had been hurt in the experience.
"What did you do?" I asked. I expected to hear how he'd tracked down the gallery owner and retrieved his prized possession.
As his eyes met mine, the wisdom of his answer was not lost in its simplicity: "I did nothing, because she lives with what she has done." I left the Taos Pueblo that day thinking about the story and what it meant for my life.
Later that week, I began to explore the legal options for recovering at least some of the money that had disappeared from my account. I quickly learned that although I did have a good case, I was looking at a lengthy, drawn-out, and expensive process. Due to the nature of what had happened, I would be required to turn the case over to the authorities as a criminal, rather than a civil, matter. From that point on, it would be entirely out of my hands, and if convicted, the woman responsible could face prison time. All of this added up to a prolonged emotional relationship with someone whom I no longer felt any connection with.
As I though about the options, I reflected once again on my conversation with my friend at the Pueblo and the lessons that had been learned. It didn't take long for me to reach a conclusion that immediately felt right: I chose to do nothing. Almost immediately, something unexpected began to happen - each of the 3 people mirroring my judgments began to fall away from my life. I was no longer angry with them, and I no longer resented them. I began to feel an odd sense of "nothingness" with regard to each of these 3 people. There was no intentional effort on my part to drive them away. After I redefined what had happened between us for what the experiences were and not what my judgments had made them out to be, there was simply nothing left to keep those people in my life. Each one simply began to fade from my day-to-day activities. Suddenly, there were fewer phone calls and letters from them, along with fewer thoughts about them throughout the course of
the day. My judgments had been the magnet that had held those relationships in place.
While this new development was interesting, with a few days something even more intriguing and even a little curious began to occur. I realized that there were other people who had been in my life for a long time who also began to fade away. Once again, there was no conscious effort on my part to end these relationships, they just didn't seem to make sense anymore. On the rare occasion that I did have a conversation with one of these individuals, it felt stained and artificial. Where there had been common ground before, now there was uneasiness.
Almost as soon as I noticed the shift in these relationships, I became aware of what for me was a new phenomenon. Each of the relationships that were falling from my life had been based in the same pattern that had originally brought the 3 people into my life... that pattern was judgment. In addition to being the magnet that drew the relationships to me, my judgment had also been the glue that had held them together. In its absence, the glue dissolved. I noticed what appeared to be a cascading effect: once the pattern was recognized in one place- in one relationship-its echo faded on many other levels of my life.
The mirrors of judgment are subtle, elusive, and possibly won't make sense to everyone who becomes aware of them. When my friends and family heard of my decision to "do nothing," they felt that I was in denial about what had happened. "She took your money!" they said. "She violated your trust! She left you with nothing!" On one level, their observations were true enough - all of those things had happened. My sense was that if I had followed the typical pattern of retribution and getting even, I would have found myself in the vicious cycle of thinking that feeds just such an experience. On another level, however, in simply being who they were, each of the 3 people showed me something about myself that would become key in the business decisions that I would make in the future. That something was a powerful lesson in the discernment of trust.
Prior to that time, I'd wanted to believe that trust is binary. That is, we either trust someone or we don't - and if we do, we can trust them fully. While I didn't like to think of the world in another way, I had learned from these 3 relationships that there are levels of trust that we're left to discern in one another. Often we trust others to a great degree and with more responsibility than they can even trust themselves. And this is just what I'd experienced.
The recognition of judgment reflected in a relationship is a powerful discovery that has reverberations that will touch every aspect of life. To the people who helped me with my lessons, I give thanks. And to those who showed me my humanness, I offer my deepest respect and gratitude for impeccably holding up the mirror before me. What a beautiful validation of the mystery of the second mirror of relationship!
(note: in the previous story. I've alluded to reconciling the charge of judgment without fully describing precisely how that reconciliation may be accomplished. It is addressed fully in my 2006 Hay House release, Secrets of the Lost Mode of Prayer, as "The Third Secret: Blessing is the Release." To summarize this powerful key to transforming our judgments, blessing is the ancient secret that releases us from life's suffering long enough to replace it with another feeling. When we bless the people or things that have hurt us, we're temporarily suspending the cycle of pain. Whether this suspension lasts for a nanosecond or an entire day makes no difference. Whatever the period of time, during the blessing a doorway opens for us to begin our healing and move on with life. The key is that for some interval, we're released from our hurt long enough to let something else into our hearts and minds: the power of "beauty.")
The Second Mirror
Reflections of what we JUDGE in the moment
"Recognize what is in your sight, and that which is hidden from you will become plain to you." The Gospel of Thomas
In the 70's one of my martial-arts instructors shared the secret of reading an opponent: "Each person in competition is a mirror to you. As your personal mirror, your opponent will show you who you are in the moment. By observing how he approaches you, you're seeing his reaction to how he perceives you." Throughout my life, I've remembered my instructor's words and thought about them often. Later on I began to apply what he had said about competition in the dojo to the way people behave in life. In 92 I found myself embroiled in an experience where this mirror made no sense at all...it was then I discovered the subtlety of the second mirror of relationship.
In the fall of that year, three new people came into my life within a very short period of time. Through them, I would experience three of the most powerful as well as painful relationships that I've known as an adult. Although I didn't recognize it at the time each person would become a master teacher for me in a way that I never imagined he or she would or could. Together, they taught me the single lesson that assured me that my life would never be the same again. Even though each relationship served as a mirror for me at precisely the right time, I initially didn't recognize what they were teaching me.
The first relationship was with a woman who had come into my life with such similar goals and interests to mine that we chose to live and work together. The second one was a new professional partnership that was to provide much needed support for setting up and organizing seminars throughout the country. The third relationship was a combination of a friendship and business arrangement, which involved a man caretaking my property when I traveled for work in exchange for a place to live in one of my unused buildings that was under renovation.
The fact that these relationships came to me at the same time should have been my clue that something was up - something big. Almost immediately, all three began to test my patience, assertiveness and resolve. I felt like these people were making me crazy! With each one, there were arguments and disagreements. Because I was traveling so much, my tendency was to discount the tensions and avoid looking for a resolution. I found myself taking a "wait-and-see" attitude until I returned from my next trip. When I did, things were always just the way I'd left them and sometimes even worse.
At that time, I had a routine that I followed when I came into the airport after each seminar. I would collect my gear from the baggage area, withdraw enough cash from the ATM for gas and a meal, and begin my 4 to 5 hour drive home. On one particular trip, however, something happened that brought everything in these relationships to a focus. After collecting my
bags I went to the ATM to make my withdrawal. To my horror, the machine quietly printed a receipt that told me my account didn't even have enough money for a 20$ bill for gas!
This was especially horrifying, because I'd recently scheduled contractors to begin renovations on the 100-year old adobe buildings on my property, and they'd just been paid with checks written on that very account. In addition to mortgage, office, travel and family expenses, the machine was telling me that there was nothing - absolutely nothing - to cover any of my other obligations. I knew that it had to be a mistake. I also knew that at 5.30pm on a Sunday afternoon in New Mexico nothing could be done - everything was closed until Monday. After convincing the lot attendant that I would repay the long-term-parking bill by mail, I began my extended drive home and thought about what had happened.
When I called my bank the next morning, I got even more of a surprise. To my disbelief, the zero balance was no mistake; there was truly nothing there. In fact, there was less than nothing - an unauthorized withdrawal by the woman I had entrusted with my business had completely emptied my account. Because of the penalties that had been applied to each one of the overdrawn checks, I also suddenly found myself with a negative balance cause by hundreds of dollars in overdraft charges.
I felt shock and disbelief. Quickly my emotions turned to anger, and then the anger became rage. My mind raced with thoughts of all the people whom I'd written checks to and how I couldn't honor those obligations. The violation of my trust and complete disregard for me and my commitments was more painful than I expected.
To make matters worse, later that day my business partnership reached a boiling point. As I opened my mail and looked over an accounting for seminars that I had already completed, I found discrepancies in the expenses, and soon I was on the phone fighting for my share of our proceeds, line item by line item.
During the same week, I discovered that the tenant living on my property was pursuing interests that were not only in direct opposition to the agreements that we had made, but they were also frowned upon by the state of New Mexico. Clearly I could no longer ignore what was happening in any of my relationships.
THERE'S MORE THAN ONE MIRROR
The next morning, I walked down the dirt road leading away from my property to a large mountain that looms over the valley behind my home. In silent prayer, I stepped carefully over the deep mud ruts and broken gravel, asking for the wisdom to recognize the pattern that I was being shown so blatantly even though I couldn't see it. What was the common thread that wove these relationships together? Remembering what my martial-arts instructor had said, I asked myself, What is the common reflection that these three people are showing me through their actions?
Immediately, words began to race through my mind, some so quickly that they disappeared, while others stood out clearly. Within seconds, 4 words emerged above all others: honesty, integrity, truth, and trust. I asked myself more questions: If these people are mirroring what I am in the moment, are they showing me that I'm dishonest? Have I somehow violated integrity, trust and truth in my work?
As I asked the questions in my mind, a feeling welled up from deep within my body. Inside of me, a voice - my voice - was screaming, No! Of course I'm honest! Of course I have integrity! Of course I'm truthful and trustworthy! These things are the very basis of the work that I share with other people.
In the very next moment, another feeling came over me - fleeting at first, then clearer and stronger, until it was solidly present for me to see and know. In that moment, the mirror suddenly became crystal clear: The three people I had so skillfully drawn into my life weren't showing me what I was in the moment, instead each one of them was showing another, more subtle reflection that no one had told me about. Through our clashes of belief and lifestyle, rather than showing to me what I am, they were showing me the things that I judge! These individual were showing me the qualities that triggered a big charge in me - the very qualities that I felt they'd violated.
At that time in my life, I did have an enormous judgment on the way people held themselves accountable to the attributes of honesty and integrity. In all probability, my charge had been building since childhood. In a moment, my past experiences suddenly became clear. Immediately, I remembered all the times these same qualities had been violated in my life: past romances in which partners weren't truthful about other people in our lives, adult promises that were made and never honored, well-intentioned friends and corporate mentors who'd made promises that they could never keep in a million years... my list went on and on.
My judgments regarding these issues had been building for years on such a minute level that I hadn't even recognized them. Now they were at the core of something I could not ignore! The magnitude of having an empty bank account was the assurance that I would have to understand the message of these relationships before I could move on in life. that was the day I learned the subtle yet profound mystery of the second mirror of relationship: The mirror of things that I judge in life.
DO YOU RECOGNIZE YOUR MIRRORS?
I invite you to examine your relationships with the people who are closest to you. Next, acknowledge the traits and characteristics that irritate you to no end and just seem to make you crazy. Once you do so, ask yourself the following question: Are these people showing myself in this moment?
They may very well be. If so, you'll know it as your "gut" feeling immediately. However, if the answer is no, they may be revealing something even deeper and more powerful than the mirror of who you are- they might be showing you the reflection of the things that you judge in life. To simply recognize and acknowledge that the mirror exists is where the healing of your judgments begin.
HEALING WITH THE CASCADE EFFECT
The day after I recognized the mirror of my judgments, I visited a friend who lives and works on the nearby Taos Pueblo. One of the oldest indigenous communities in North America, this site has been continuously inhabited for at least 1,500 years. Roberts (not his real name) had a shop withing the Pueblo itself and was a tremendously skilled artist and craftsman. Displayed through his store were the sculptures, dream catchers, music, and jewelry that had been part of his tradition for centuries before thee was even an "America."
As I walked in, he was working on a sculpture nearly seven feet tall that was standing in the aisle beside him. After saying our hellos, I asked about his family and how business had been, and we enjoyed a few minutes of catch up talk. He returned my questions, asking me what was happening in my life. I shared the events of the past week, the three people, and the missing money. After listening to my account, he thought for a few moments and then told me a story.
"My great-grandfather," he began, "hunted buffalo on the plains of northern New Mexico," I knew that he must have been talking about a long time ago, because as far as I knew, no buffalo had roamed that part of the state for years. "Before his death, he gave me his most valuable possession: the head of the first buffalo that he ever hunted as a young boy." Robert when on to tell me how this buffalo head had become a treasure of his as well. After his great-grandfather died, it was one of the few tangible relics that connected him with the heritage of his past.
One day a gallery owner had come to visit Robert from the nearby town. Seeing how beautiful the head was, she asked if she could use it as part of a display in her gallery, and he had agreed. After a few weeks had passed, Robert hadn't heard from his friend and went into town to see how she was doing. To his surprise, when he arrived at the gallery, nothing was there. The doors were locked, the windows were covered and the shop was out of business. The gallery owner and his buffalo head were both gone. Robert looked up from his sculpting long enough for me to see that he had been hurt in the experience.
"What did you do?" I asked. I expected to hear how he'd tracked down the gallery owner and retrieved his prized possession.
As his eyes met mine, the wisdom of his answer was not lost in its simplicity: "I did nothing, because she lives with what she has done." I left the Taos Pueblo that day thinking about the story and what it meant for my life.
Later that week, I began to explore the legal options for recovering at least some of the money that had disappeared from my account. I quickly learned that although I did have a good case, I was looking at a lengthy, drawn-out, and expensive process. Due to the nature of what had happened, I would be required to turn the case over to the authorities as a criminal, rather than a civil, matter. From that point on, it would be entirely out of my hands, and if convicted, the woman responsible could face prison time. All of this added up to a prolonged emotional relationship with someone whom I no longer felt any connection with.
As I though about the options, I reflected once again on my conversation with my friend at the Pueblo and the lessons that had been learned. It didn't take long for me to reach a conclusion that immediately felt right: I chose to do nothing. Almost immediately, something unexpected began to happen - each of the 3 people mirroring my judgments began to fall away from my life. I was no longer angry with them, and I no longer resented them. I began to feel an odd sense of "nothingness" with regard to each of these 3 people. There was no intentional effort on my part to drive them away. After I redefined what had happened between us for what the experiences were and not what my judgments had made them out to be, there was simply nothing left to keep those people in my life. Each one simply began to fade from my day-to-day activities. Suddenly, there were fewer phone calls and letters from them, along with fewer thoughts about them throughout the course of
the day. My judgments had been the magnet that had held those relationships in place.
While this new development was interesting, with a few days something even more intriguing and even a little curious began to occur. I realized that there were other people who had been in my life for a long time who also began to fade away. Once again, there was no conscious effort on my part to end these relationships, they just didn't seem to make sense anymore. On the rare occasion that I did have a conversation with one of these individuals, it felt stained and artificial. Where there had been common ground before, now there was uneasiness.
Almost as soon as I noticed the shift in these relationships, I became aware of what for me was a new phenomenon. Each of the relationships that were falling from my life had been based in the same pattern that had originally brought the 3 people into my life... that pattern was judgment. In addition to being the magnet that drew the relationships to me, my judgment had also been the glue that had held them together. In its absence, the glue dissolved. I noticed what appeared to be a cascading effect: once the pattern was recognized in one place- in one relationship-its echo faded on many other levels of my life.
The mirrors of judgment are subtle, elusive, and possibly won't make sense to everyone who becomes aware of them. When my friends and family heard of my decision to "do nothing," they felt that I was in denial about what had happened. "She took your money!" they said. "She violated your trust! She left you with nothing!" On one level, their observations were true enough - all of those things had happened. My sense was that if I had followed the typical pattern of retribution and getting even, I would have found myself in the vicious cycle of thinking that feeds just such an experience. On another level, however, in simply being who they were, each of the 3 people showed me something about myself that would become key in the business decisions that I would make in the future. That something was a powerful lesson in the discernment of trust.
Prior to that time, I'd wanted to believe that trust is binary. That is, we either trust someone or we don't - and if we do, we can trust them fully. While I didn't like to think of the world in another way, I had learned from these 3 relationships that there are levels of trust that we're left to discern in one another. Often we trust others to a great degree and with more responsibility than they can even trust themselves. And this is just what I'd experienced.
The recognition of judgment reflected in a relationship is a powerful discovery that has reverberations that will touch every aspect of life. To the people who helped me with my lessons, I give thanks. And to those who showed me my humanness, I offer my deepest respect and gratitude for impeccably holding up the mirror before me. What a beautiful validation of the mystery of the second mirror of relationship!
(note: in the previous story. I've alluded to reconciling the charge of judgment without fully describing precisely how that reconciliation may be accomplished. It is addressed fully in my 2006 Hay House release, Secrets of the Lost Mode of Prayer, as "The Third Secret: Blessing is the Release." To summarize this powerful key to transforming our judgments, blessing is the ancient secret that releases us from life's suffering long enough to replace it with another feeling. When we bless the people or things that have hurt us, we're temporarily suspending the cycle of pain. Whether this suspension lasts for a nanosecond or an entire day makes no difference. Whatever the period of time, during the blessing a doorway opens for us to begin our healing and move on with life. The key is that for some interval, we're released from our hurt long enough to let something else into our hearts and minds: the power of "beauty.")
