Someone else's shoes

Rubber boots at the Kroon homestead in Ontario, Canada ~ Canon Digital Rebel XT

We returned home to the USA quite late last night.

As we stumbled through our door dragging heavy luggage on the ground with bags strung diagonally across shoulders, our cats gracefully pounced toward us and greeted us with happy meows.

Ahhh...home sweet home. The familiar surroundings, the smells, the comfort of it all.

This past week was spent surrounding Carsten's brother with support and love through a challenging transition on his life journey. With each day, I grew to know his brother on a deeper level and this time spent with him definitely solidified our relationship. Living so far away from one another, it has been challenging to connect but I left feeling as though I truly had a new older brother in my life.

During the hours spent with the three of us communing together, we gently opened up the door for him to spill all that is transpiring in his head and heart. This process really brought me out of my own headspace for a few days.

An unexpected blessing.

If you reflect back on the times that you communed in such a way to comfort a dear one's wounded heart, didn't you find that in helping them heal, your own heart also felt a bit healed?

I think there is so much power in standing in someone else's shoes for a time being. It awakens you into a bigger awareness of life outside of your own personal Universe...especially when you feel so submerged into it.

This grand perspective created a sense of hope as I could see the unfolding of his journey all making sense, even if he couldn't as of yet. It made me realize that the unfolding of my own journey will all make sense in the end...even if I don't see it now and others do.

In helping him rediscover his strength, I rediscovered even more of mine.

Interesting how I found part of my way in someone else's shoes.