The Secret at the Bottom of the Well of Grief

Flickr - light - Bianca MoraesTrinity Bourne, Openhand Contributor
Waking Times

Getting to know our pain…
I’ve noticed that those who face experiences of the darkest, most challenging times often end up shining the brightest light of all. It’s quite paradoxical in a way. It’s usually the people who go right into the heart of their darkness, who find something deeper; something beyond it all. They begin to find the strength of an ever present benevolence, like a light at the end of the tunnel.

At times I meet the most beautiful souls who are undergoing what could be considered “hell”. I don’t want to talk them out of it. I don’t want to take the pain away. But I care. I care deeply. My soul is stirred to help find a strength that will take them to the heart of the suffering. Not to dwell in it. No, no, not at all! But to look it straight in the eyes and find the light beyond it.

“Your pain is the breaking of the shell
that encloses your understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break,
that it’s heart may stand in the sun,
so must you know your pain.”

Kahlil Gibran

As the light is found at the heart of the experience, fear begins to lose its grip. Fear is like a parasite that sucks the life force out of its host. Yet, the only thing that feeds it is perpetuation of fear. If we find the courage to confront it (or ‘feel the fear and do it anyway‘ as Susan Jeffers says) our identification with the fear ends. It stops defining our experience of this world.


  • The key is not wishing for something else and denying what we are experiencing. It is important to trust that everything has been sent to help us remember who we truly are.

    Profound self honesty is fundamental in our journey of spiritual evolution. Without it, none of this is possible.

    So let’s always journey to the heart of things where the sacred waters of our evolution into higher consciousness awaits…

    “Those who will not slip beneath
    the still surface on the well of grief
    turning downward through its black water
    to the place we cannot breathe
    will never know the source
    from which we drink
    the secret water, cold and clear,
    nor find in the darkness glimmering
    the small round coins
    thrown by those who wished for
    something else”

    David Whyte “Well of Grief”

    In Love and Light
    Trinity

    This article originally appeared at Openhandweb.org, a project to elevate the consciousness of human beings and provide healing to those in need.

    This article is offered under Creative Commons license. It’s okay to republish it anywhere as long as attribution bio is included and all links remain intact.

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