Welcome Mat
A basic welcome mat. Sitting right outside the front door. Exposed, unsheltered from the elements. Welcoming. Inviting. That simple mat essentially announces: “We’re glad to have you.”
Sure, it serves the practical purpose of wiping mud from our shoes. But even that reveals something profound; we’re welcome regardless of how dirty we seem to arrive.
Consider how this might apply to our emotional landscape.
When anger surfaces, or anxiety demands attention, or sadness settles in, our default reactions are predictable. We either get swept away by the emotion, attempt to repress it, or strive to eliminate it. “Why does this keep happening? I don’t want you here!”
But what if we tried something radically different? What if we rolled out the welcome mat?
“I honor you. I respect you. You are welcome here.”
This is not an enthusiastic “Yes! More of this, please!” It’s simply acknowledging what is already present. The emotion has arrived. We can ride along with it, fight against it, deny its existence, or... welcome it.
By surrounding the emotion with warmth and light, by honoring rather than resisting what appears in awareness, we create space for something remarkable to occur. The emotion expresses itself fully, witnessed with gentleness and without judgment.
And here’s what we discover: when our attention rests in that presence of love surrounding the emotion, the emotion itself begins dissolving into that very love. Transmuted. Transformed.
This is how A Course in Miracles meets us exactly where we are, using our daily experiences to lead home. Gently reminding us, “I am not the victim of the world I see.”
Join me in Thursday’s class where we’ll explore this practice of welcoming rather than warring with our emotions, and discover the liberating stillness that appears when we stop fighting ourselves. I look forward to seeing you then.