What is Resilience?
A rubber ball bouncing back
Moving every which way, hitting walls and ceilings
No patterns just always bouncing back
But what if I was made of putty?
I still bounce, and sometimes I rest
I can retain my shape, or I can be shifted, molded, dented, flattened
What if resilience isn’t about bouncing back?
What if it’s about existing?
Existing in spite of the challenges
What if it’s about our ability to keep going
Resilience is existing and going and moving and molding and allowing ourselves to change shape when necessary
Allowing ourselves to slow down, to move differently
Allowing ourselves to let go of “bouncing back”
Allowing ourselves to be shaped
Allowing ourselves to be and feel and accept
And are we born with it? No.
We gather it.
We gather our strength and curiosity and desire to live
We gather our past – and all the times we’ve been shaped before
We harvest the seeds we’ve sown
We harvest the resilience, which has been growing and growing and grows
