Card of the Day: Five of Swords

A depiction of anxiety itself. The earthworm is our primitive, basic sense of self—the ancient lizard brain that responds to stimulus: yes/no, safe/dangerous. It’s kept humans alive and evolving for tens of thousands of years. The swords are the mental processes that evolved into our prefrontal cortex—planning, envisioning, replaying. The basic ingredients for feeding anxiety and fear!

There is a virus that is dangerous and that threatens not only our bodies but the structure and stability of our society and the world. If there were a reason to be scared, this is pretty legitimate. We can use our mind to bypass and avoid this true emotion and numb out and pretend. And we can use our mind to feed our fears and create a hell-realm in our bodies and minds.

There’s a third way, I think. To be with the fear when it arises. To begin to learn how to be present to it, to not be afraid of it. To perhaps begin to revere and respect it as a force that has kept humans going for a long time. AND, after having let ourselves experience it--through a call with a friend/therapist/loved one/hotline, art practice, movement, journaling, however you’re learning to do this—we can pivot and use the swords of our mind to generate feelings in the body that nourish, support and soothe.

The Buddha gave the Metta Sutra to a group of forest monks who were anxious and afraid in their forest retreat. The trees, creatures and forest spirits were irritated at the monks’ presence and were scaring the shit out of them. The Buddha said, “Here, chant this”—a sutra on lovingkindness. And not only did it soothe the monks, it also soothed the forest spirits and they became allies together. Our mind is SO powerful. We can learn to use it well.