53 Comments
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Tess's avatar

"I sometimes forget it’s not a personal flaw to be unable to hold the weight of the world in one body without getting overwhelmed, flustered, weighed down. When we’re taught to fix and prod and change and shift and heal and grow and mend and effort and dig and examine and excavate every part of our personal stories and selves, it’s easy to assume that should be enough…"

This spoke directly to the anxiety in my body! So well put, thank you for writing this

Lisa Olivera's avatar

I'm glad it reached you 🧡

Jennifer Nissen's avatar

These are some of the most needed, relatable and applicable words I have read in a very long while, I am saving this to keep myself grounded. I am in deep appreciation of how beautifully written this article is and for the articles connected to this piece as well.

Lisa Olivera's avatar

So glad it connected with you 💛

Stephanie C. Bell's avatar

Just gorgeous! "Heartbreak, to me, feels like a deep love of this world."

John Palmerlee's avatar

I'm intrigued by this topic, and feel its importance. There seems a subtle understanding about what we let go of, how we let it go and how we relate to it once let go.

It's not a severance, is it? It's not a giving up, nor a pushing away. It's some other form of connection, this letting go. I need this practice.

The pain impacts my entire response to stressful triggers - and I'm overwhelmed sometimes by the smallest things.

Maybe this time offers to teach us all about what it really means to be present while also letting go. As if letting go, but not fully releasing. Learning this...

Lisa Olivera's avatar

Learning alongside you <3

Kathryn Vercillo's avatar

Your teacher's words about letting "the weight of the world pour through the top of your head into the floor" brought tears to my eyes because I felt that tingling sensation just reading it.

I've been carrying so much lately, and like you, I sometimes forget it's not a personal failing that one body can't hold everything without breaking. There's something in our culture that makes us believe we should be able to process all the world's pain internally, that if we just do enough inner work, we'll somehow be strong enough to carry it all without getting crushed.

Your reminder that "heartbreak is one way of deepening my love for this world" landed so deeply. In my own experience with depression and the way it intersects with my creative work, I've learned that sometimes the heaviness isn't something to fix or transcend. Sometimes it's information about how much we actually care, how awake our hearts still are despite everything trying to shut them down.

I keep thinking about your line: "choosing to become part of a wider We instead of making everything about Me." That shift from isolation to connection, from fixing ourselves to building something beautiful together, feels like the antidote to so much of what makes this all unbearable.

Thank you for this reminder that setting it down isn't giving up. It's how we stay in the fight with our hearts still open.

Lisa Olivera's avatar

So grateful it connected with you <3 thank you for sharing some of your experience.

Raluca Lorena Rohian's avatar

“Connecting to what brings us more alive and moving toward those things with fervent devotion ends up being quite a gift. Staying rooted to what we love ends up being quite a gift. I believe all of it helps us face the hurt in this world with open palms instead of clenched fists.”

Loved this part ❤️

Uma Girish's avatar

Another beautiful blessing of words ❤️ Thank you. Big congratulations on finishing your manuscript! It always feels like a long, slow exhale doesn’t it! I’d love to send you a copy of my latest book. Please can you DM me your address if you’re open to sharing it?

Lisa Olivera's avatar

Ohh I'll message you!

Uma Girish's avatar

Look forward to it!

Marisol Muñoz-Kiehne's avatar

Double down on care,

don’t give up on humans yet.

Keep loving. We~world.

Lisa Olivera's avatar

Yes yes yes 🧡🧡

Dianne Moritz's avatar

YES....than you.

Dianne Moritz's avatar

typo, sorry. Thank you, very insightful writing.

Lisa Olivera's avatar

I'm certain there's at least one typo in every letter I send out, no need to apologize :)

Christina Roy's avatar

Immediately upon reading these beautiful words, I shared them with one of my best friends and it brought her immediate comfort and resonance. Thank you for being a guidepost.

Lisa Olivera's avatar

Oh this warms my heart -- thank you for reading 💛

Leslie Bloss's avatar

Thanks so much, Lisa. Your kind, insightful and tender words are always so helpful in tying the threads of overwhelming grief and despair and reorienting them toward power and empathy. Pausing and laying down the heaviness of the current age; an act of self actualization and rebellion resonates so powerfully and something many of us would not have recognized without your expert guidance. Thank you!

Lisa Olivera's avatar

So grateful it reached you 💛💛

Susan Harley's avatar

I deeply resonate with what you have expressed here Lisa, so honestly . I admire your writing and the way you so beautifully find expression of so much of what I am also feeling.

You are an inspiration 🧡

Lisa Olivera's avatar

So glad it connected with you <3

Christina Foxhall's avatar

You are magic. Thank you for sharing your beautiful gift of putting these overwhelming experiences to poetic words

Lisa Olivera's avatar

Thank you for reading <3 <3

McCauley's avatar

Your use of the word “unaloneness” gave me chills. Humanity is oozing throughout this piece, thank you for sharing 💌

Lisa Olivera's avatar

So glad it reached you <3

Sarah Edwards's avatar

Thank you Lisa for your beautiful gift xo

Lisa Olivera's avatar

Thank you for reading 💛

Sabrina Y. Smith's avatar

“It’s heavy because it’s heavy.“ — TRUTH.