Finding blessings everywhere isn’t “toxic positivity.” It’s a choice.
The chorus of Leonard Cohen’s poem/song, Anthem, is running through my mind this morning:
Ring the bells (ring the bells) that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything (there is a crack in everything)
That’s how the light gets in . . .
This is the wisdom of Jewish blessings. They’re not just about what we immediately recognize as beautiful or beneficial. They are also about finding the light in the cracks.
But there is another bit of wisdom in these lines. Maybe it’s a wish for perfection, conscious or unconscious, that blocks us from seeing the light in the cracks, from even looking at the cracks. If we experience what is imperfect as “less than,” we miss opportunities to experience connection and interbeing. We miss a chance for finding blessings.
So if life seems full of cracks, I want to do a better job of finding blessings in the cracks. To be honest, it doesn’t come naturally to me — but it’s a challenge I choose to accept.