Earlier this week, I sat on my bedroom floor, Dino curled up in his bed…my mind returning to lamenting some of the decisions I’ve made… the kind of thing where, just as you get to a new layer of forgiveness, it seems to pop back up–the judgments of others cascading or ping ponging, or whack-a-mole-ing back into your mind.
And I said, that’s enough. In my mind. And aloud, I said, “you know what Dino, I think we need a Forgiveness Jar.”
And with the slap of my legs, I hopped up, grabbed a 32 oz. mason jar, a stack of post-its and started writing.
Now this is a variation on an exercise I used to do, where I wrote aspects of my situation or current experience down on little slips of paper (lovely varied color card stock, to be exact) and put them into a lovely glass vase…they were beautiful. And they helped bring me back to my present experience. The act of writing them down, and declaring how I was feeling, honoring my experience in that way, and then putting them into the vase held serious healing power for me.
And now, I found myself in need of that healing again.
My road down the lane of forgiveness…or perhaps we shall call it a river, has been flowing for quite some time.
Sometimes it’s like raging rapids asking to be calmed with the power of pure intention and a loving heart, and other times it seems to flow along peacefully with a light blue energy of Mother Mary…and a knowing that “they know not what they do.”
There are times where these, to me, feel like some of the most peaceful words ever spoken. A soothing salve for the wounds of the soul.
And sometimes, in fact most of the time, the one so often in need of forgiving, in need of our pure loving and infinitely giving and abundant presence, is our very own self.
I have needed to forgive myself more times than I can count. And it seems just as I reach a new layer, more things will surface…so the journey goes, I suppose.
But every step of the way, we know we’re going deeper, we know we’re getting closer and closer to the light of our true selves.
And that is my hope for you today as I share these prompts…
That in offering yourself any tidbit or sliver of forgiveness that you are able, that a bright shining part of you will be able to shine through all the brighter, and light this world with love.
Because the very first person in the world, who always deserves more love…is you.
So love yourselves hard today, dear ones. Hold your sweet little child self close and whisper to her that it will be alright. Tell her she is doing a good job, reassure her that all is well…
And if she asks, be willing to speak the words, “you are forgiven.”
For as you forgive yourself, you open the pathway to being able to forgive others with such tenderness and grace.
And let’s be honest…I think the whole world can use a lot more of both of those things right now.
Oh! And if you want to create a forgiveness jar…
This is what you do:
- Pick a jar or container (coffee can, vase, cookie container…whatever you can find) and declare it your FORGIVENESS JAR.
- Place a stack of post its or pieces of paper nearby. (I found that writing on the post its upside down and then folding them in half so that the bottom half sticks to the back works well.)
- Whenever you notice yourself feeling hard on yourself for something, or notice a regret pop into your mind, write it down… “I forgive you for…(and fill in the blank for whatever it is you feel needs forgiving),” fold it in half, put it in your jar, and let the worry and burden of it fall away.
- You’d be surprised how quickly this can bring relief! When I did mine, I wrote several all at once, and then the next morning when one regret that I’d written about the night before popped into my mind, my immediate thought to myself was “I forgive you” or “you’re forgiven” and I went about my merry way.
- I hope this works for you as well as it did (and does) for me… and if you try it, I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments below…
Much love to you always,
And may forgiveness radiate through your heart to bring healing to all in sight,
Caitlin
Write From the Heart 