9 October 2015

True forgiveness is when you can say, “Thank you for that experience.” ~Oprah Winfrey

This week I’ve devoted time and attention to healing a tender spot. Although it’s been challenging, there’s been relief in re-examining an old and dank place.  Something I had stuck away emerged, unasked, providing an opportunity for transformation.

In one of my top 20, all-time favorite movies, The Electric Horseman, Robert Redford is a washed-up cowboy and Jane Fonda is the hotshot journalist who trails him into the American west after he steals a priceless race horse.  Fonda’s character, completely out of her element on this unexpected trip into the wild, is anxious to get her news scoop but awkward with the taciturn cowboy and fusses to him that she wants the communication between them to be easier, lighter.  Redford studies her a moment, then picks up the suitcase carrying all her camera gear and tosses it into a stream.  Brushing off his hands, he says to her.  “There.  All lightened up.”

Sometimes I think it can actually be that easy—a matter of identifying a sore spot and directly addressing it.

Other times, it’s grittier.   But it still can be worth it.  Time might now allow us  to be gentler on ourselves.  Or more favorably inclined toward another’s actions or perspectives.

Distance may contain acceptance or peace.  And a dark, raw place can heal a bit.