I’ve been thinking this morning about the things within ourselves that we abandon, or are abandoned due to circumstances outside of our control.

We all experience this disorienting disconnection throughout our lives, starting with the moment we disconnect from our mother and enter the world screaming. Maybe this sense of disconnection never left you, or maybe you’ve experienced moments of transcending it once or many times.

Often trauma will leave you with a sense of abandonment, a piece of yourself that you must bury in order to survive. That little one you leave behind doesn’t disappear; she still sits in your chest, waiting for your attention and compassion.

And sometimes it’s less extreme: sometimes, this sense of abandonment comes in the form of parts of ourselves that we feel are too much or too little for other people, that we can’t bring fully forward into the world because it would be too vulnerable. And what if we are rejected?

But that is a rejection of yourself.

We learn from the moment of our births that we are separate from others, in good and holy ways, and in damaging ways.

The movements of our lives take us toward Oneness and connection with the “Other” — both the Supreme Other (the Divine) and the others within our families, communities, and all of humanity as we experience this planet and this time together.

What within yourself have you abandoned? What passions have you let fall away because you believe they aren’t palatable, or necessary, or “good” (whatever that means)?

It is my belief that the things within ourselves that we abandon are often the very things we can contribute to the Whole, the things that will bring us into deeper and deeper intimacy with the Other and with others.

Perhaps you have abandoned a sacred creative practice because you feel you aren’t talented enough or brave enough to give yourself to it. Maybe it’s an area of study, or a love of nature, or an experience of the Divine that you can share with others. Maybe it’s a spiritual gift — empathy and compassion, intuition, insight into the internal worlds of others — that you feel you can’t share.

All of these gifts are valuable and so often ignored because they require vulnerability to share with others. And vulnerability is dangerous business.

But holy business.

The question is: what can you lend your passions and your gifts to? What do you have within you (that only you have) that you can give to your family, your community, humanity? How can adding your passion to the Whole bring about healing: your own, as you move forward into community, and the healing of humanity as it leans into you?

Your passion is powerful: it is a healing force in the world that unites us with each other, and with the Other.

How will you use your passion today? Maybe it’s a small step: bringing out your old paint set, sitting down at the blank page, having intimate conversations. These are your own special medicine that you have to offer the world.

You’re brave enough to tap into them, and you are brave enough to share them. We need them. We need you.

What are you holding back, and why?

My hope is that you recognize your own holy otherness today, the special Self that only you can be, the part of Divinity that you occupy. And my hope is that you lend your passions, talents, hopes, and desires to the good of the Whole — because there is great healing there, for you and for others. And we could all use a little medicine.