When we were little we fell off our bikes and scratched our knees. They would bleed for hours. It hurt to walk or sit; the bandaids covered the gashes, but we still felt them.
Eventually, though, they healed.
Bruises turned yellow and purple and black and blue. Scabs of bright red grew dark and then disappeared. Even the scars faded.
At that young age, we learned an important lesson through our pain: wounds heal.
As we grew older, we learned that the wounds you can’t see, those on your soul, hurt even more than scraped knees or broken bones, and usually they take even longer to heal. But the important thing is that they eventually do.
I wish there was some soothing balm for a torn soul, or a cast for a broken heart, but, unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that. Time and love are the only things that mend the damage you can’t see.
I have struggled to write these past few weeks, as I have been focusing on healing my own heart.
I listened to the Beatles on repeat as they told me, “Open up your eyes… see the sunny skies.”
It got me out of bed, and I thought, okay, today is the day. Today I will get out of bed, shower off this funk, and get to work on my writing.
That didn’t happen.
I got so far as showering, and then I heard the news that one of my friends passed away.
If only there were a splint for a hurt soul.
There is, though, and it’s called love–the love you give yourself, the love you receive from others, and the love you return to the world.
Love is the thing that cures the pain inside of us, like a mom kissing a scratched knee makes it feel better faster. In times of turbulence and pain, people come together and spread so much love it overwhelms the world and drives the darkness out.
Out of tragedies and disease and death and war comes one positive thing: love.
Let’s all continue to spread that love to one another each and every day, make a conscious effort to continually pour love out into the world, over one another and ourselves, so when a tragedy comes along and knocks us down to lowest lows and tries to drown us, we have something to float on.
Lean on your family, your friends, lean on one another.
And remember to listen to the Beatles: “See the sunny skies….the clouds will be a daisy chain, so let me see you smile again.”
This week the world lost a beautiful human with one of the brightest souls any of us has ever known. Whether we knew him for a moment or a lifetime, we were all touched by his sincerity and kindness, and his ability to put a smile on everyone’s face. Rest in paradise, Mike Hughes.
All my love today and always.
Twentysomething Guru 