Difficult times.  These are difficult times.

It’s not unusual to feel “down” about the future of this world.  It’s not unusual to not be able to feel joy.  It’s not unusual to want to curl up with a book in bed or binge on tv shows that take one’s mind away from war, climate change, health issues, murder,  addiction/homelessness/poverty in our own town/city, etc..

If that’s you, or someone you know, it might help to ask Four Questions asked by healers in many shamanic societies –

• When did you stop dancing?
• When did you stop singing?
• When did you stop being enchanted by stories?
• When did you stop being comforted by the sweet terrain of silence?

The questions are simple … and profound … because –

• When it comes to dancing
  … by ourselves or with a partner, dancing is a way that our body and mind communicate with the other and bring about an integration of body and soul.
• When it comes to singing
  … endorphins are released when we sing, reducing stress in our mind, body, and spirit.  And besides, it’s fun.
• When it comes to “being enchanted by stories”
  … important lessons in life can be learned and our imagination can soar and a brief respite from life’s difficult situations can become part of our experience.
• And when it comes to being comforted by the sweet terrain of silence
  … perhaps turning off the news for a few days and listening to the songs of the birds, the rustle of the wind, the flutter of butterfly wings will help cultivate a deep sense of peace within. 

Perhaps one way to cope in difficult times
is
to ask
the Four Questions
of ourselves?

Then wait, listen for the answers deep within, and if the answers reflect answers that are more like ‘never, infrequently,’ perhaps do something to change one, more, all of our answers to the questions so they become ‘sometimes, often, regularly’?   

Perhaps something to consider?

**********************************