I bought what I thought would be a cool, new circular hairbrush that I could use with a blowdryer to volumize my hair (just a few decades late to the party.) After a few curls, my hairbrush got stuck. I tugged. I tried to reverse my way out of the tangle, which merely wove a knot. I stared at the hairbrush hanging from my head, contemplating a selfie to celebrate my predicament. Ultimately, the only solution was to slowly, carefully, pull a couple of hairs at a time out of the brush. Any speeding up or impatience merely increased the brush’s determination to foil my efforts. And of course I was late for work. As I struggled, my demonic mind played O Fortuna from Carmina Burana as an unhelpfiul soundtrack . Untangling my hair had become a microcosmic (or should I say cosmicomic) heroine’s journey.
Some knots are useful (think shoelaces and marriage vows). But sometimes we find we get tangled in knots: knots of pain, relationship tangles, even “all tied up.” When we are stuck, We feel compelled to either break free and wreak havoc or just give up and try to forget, like that tangled necklace abandoned in the jewelry box.
But untangling can be sweetly satisfying. One strand at a time. Kindly. Attentively. I can look at my individual threads and put them back where they belong. I can follow the thread back to its source in the tapestry of my life with out unraveling myself and losing my connection to the whole.
I love this lesson that allows me to connect and then untangle my legs, head and eyes. Enjoy!
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