The Door is Open………

That’s what Cindy said any and every time I knocked on a door she was behind.

THE DOOR IS OPEN she would say loudly.

In her 57 years there was not one time that she said anything different.  Her door was always open and I was always invited in.  Always.

The opening line of Dawna Markova’s poem Swing Wide is;

                Let us swing wide all the doors and windows

                                     of our hearts on their rusty hinges

                                         so we may learn how to open in love.

That is what Cindy knew without ever being taught anything about love.  She was love and she loved pure and simple.

The essence of most Alexander Technique lessons and Movement Therapy sessions I give is helping others let go of self judgement and criticism.   The work asks them to hold themselves with loving kindness.  Though that is not spoken in the sessions I have come to realize that is the essence of the work.  Holding our self with loving kindness is the antidote to almost all of our pain and suffering.  When we hold our self with loving kindness we hold others with loving kindness.  It is a natural effect.

As within so without the universal law teaches us.

In truth, most of our tensions and compensations come from a lack of love.  What is in it’s place is fear of judgement.  “You did something wrong.  You are not okay as you are.  You are not good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, rich enough, big enough, small enough, whatever enough…..”  The list goes on and on and on.

We are all born free.  We are all born pure and innocent and trusting until someone does not satisfy our need.  It happens right away in infancy, and there is no getting around it.  No one can ever meet all of our needs when we need them to be met.  The problem comes when we believe that there is something wrong with us, when we internalize what someone else can not give us as being our fault or lack.

What if we never closed the door to our own love and compassion?

Cindy, in her perpetual innocence knew how to keep her self open.  She lived openly.  She loved without condition.  And mostly, when she looked in the mirror the image she saw reflected back at her was beautiful.  She forgave, she let go, she lived every moment of her life in the present moment and she taught anyone who cared to learn, how to do that as well.  Her living taught me how to love with openness and how to live with freedom and ease in the present moment.

I have taken many pictures of flowers and am amazed by the way all of them open to reveal their beauty.  Here is one I especially love;

What if this flower never opened?

We have the opportunity to witness extraordinary acts of beauty.  Miracles are all around us when we open our eyes and our hearts to see them.  If we don’t risk opening to who we truly are our beauty will never be seen by others.   And, if we don’t open ourselves we will never know our beauty when it is reflected back to us by others.

I beg you today to risk opening your self to another.  Take a chance.  Even if it’s a baby step take a chance and show who you really are to someone else.  Let your guard down.  Let your walls soften.  Let your self be seen for who you really are and witness what happens.  You can close up if you want, but for a moment, risk being seen for who you are and see if a miracle happens.

Open the door to love.