Delight for the Soul
  • Welcome
  • Book
    • Knowing Beautiful Retreats
  • About Amy
  • Programs
    • Corporate Programs
    • Custom Events
    • Retreats >
      • Retreat Themes
      • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Knowing Beautiful Retreats
      • Empty Nest Retreat: for Mothers of Seniors
      • Couples Retreat >
        • Couple's Retreat F.A.Q.
    • Schedule, Cost, Location
  • Speaking
  • Blog
  • What Participants Say
  • Contact

The Weight We Carry

9/20/2014

2 Comments

 
Picture
We only had fifteen minutes.  “I think we can do this,” I said as we parked our car in the bus station parking lot.  My husband and I hopped out and headed for a lone boulder in the overgrown grass, with comb and scissors in hand.  Alex needed a haircut before returning to San Francisco from Tahoe.  I’ve been cutting his hair for years.

As I worked diligently to finish before the bus arrived a woman approached us, “I don’t know who you are, where you are from, or what you are doing, but would you please give me a haircut?” 

She went on to explain in a shaky voice that she had lost her house and her husband to cancer ten months ago.  Carmelle was living in her van and was about to collect survivor benefits the next day. 

“I just want bangs like I used to have and this weight off of my shoulders.”

How could I say no? 
 
So she took her place on the rock.  I warned her, “You know I’m not formally trained and the wind is blowing pretty hard.”

“Just do it. Please.  I trust you.”  

Each time I asked her for guidance she replied, “I trust you. Do what you think is right.”

In between the silence and her sharing her story of their loving marriage and her hard knocks, she would break into tears, “I can’t believe you are doing this for me.”

I took a big gulp as I cut four inches away from her eyes. 

“You know I used to have dishwater blond hair.  Can you see my roots?”  

I could see her roots, the hardship of the years in her lined face, and the weight she was carrying being lifted with each inch I took off. 

I gave her a final hug and a wish for a lighter new chapter that matched her hair.  She crossed the parking lot, hopped back into her van, and took a peek into her rear view mirror.  I held my breath.  

Carmelle's wide smile and a big thumbs up are still clear in my mind. 

So is the weight of her desperate request. 

We all carry weight. Most of it is hidden from others; we feel it’s ours alone to bear. That impromptu haircut on the boulder showed me that we all can lift the weight of another. We both needed courage: she needed to step out of the van and ask; I needed to say yes and try.

Then came ease . . . connection . . . support . . . relief and an opening to new possibilities.  How can you lift the weight of another?  How can others support you?

2 Comments
Julie Barrett
10/16/2014 02:21:03 am

Oh, my, my, my.......LOVE this.......nothing like putting the needs of others first......and letting LIFE happen vs, trying to stay with your own agenda! My...how this resonates with me!! You are a love, sweet friend!

Also....when the heck did you go to Cambodia? LOVE "knee deep"in the paddy's of life!!

Reply
Amy Tirion
10/18/2015 03:39:56 am

Thanks Julie! Letting our hearts lead the way....

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Subscribe to Blog

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    RSS Feed

    Picture

    Amy Tirion
    About Me
    Advocate for Stillness, Seeker of Inspiration, Playful Mom, Lover of Creativity, Still Learning, Believer in Women,  Founder of Delight for the Soul

    Check Out My New Book Knowing Beautiful:
    A New Bedtime Story for Women

    Picture
    Becoming
    This blog is an invitation to stop.  Breathe.  And tap into the part of you that craves more space, inspiration, and nurturing.  It captures the writings from my Delight for the Soul Newsletter.  They are personal moments of reflection, inspiration, and questioning that focus on Being rather than Doing.  It's a direction we are all invited to go in, as we live deeply and do less.  The more we focus on being, the more delighted we become . . . and the more becoming we are.


    Categories

    All
    Abundance
    Admiration
    Aging
    Balance
    Beauty
    Becoming
    Buoyancy
    Calling
    Chakra
    Change
    Childhood
    Children
    Compassion
    Consciousness
    Courage
    Dance
    David Whyte
    Desire
    Disappointment
    Discomfort
    Dreaming
    Emotion
    Energy
    Enthusiasm
    Fear
    Flash Mob
    Friendship
    Full Moon
    Gender
    Girlfriends
    Giving
    Goal Setting
    Goal Setting
    Grace
    Graduation
    Gratitude
    Growing
    Harmony
    Heart
    Heart Opening
    Hope
    Indulgence
    Inspiration
    Intuition
    Jealousy
    Joy
    Kelly Mcgonigal
    Loss
    Love
    Magic
    Mary Oliver
    Mindfulness
    One Billion Rising
    Oneness
    Overwhelm
    Pace
    Parenting
    Peace
    Perimenopause
    Play
    Receiving
    Resilience
    School
    Self Care
    Self Perception
    Shasta Nelson
    Slowing Down
    Soul
    Support
    Time
    Travel
    Trust
    Truth
    Visioning
    Voice
    Vulnerability
    Wisdom
    Work
    World

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.