44 Expat Living
COMMUNITY
You Always Have Access to the Light
Strategies for Peace and Well-Being Written by Cristina Murano
E
www.gwangjunewsgic.com
October 2020
ach of us has our own story, a story that contains our fears, joys, challenges, and memories. We carry this story with us wherever we are, regardless of our geography, but our geography also shapes and influences how we feel at any given moment. This interplay between who we are and where we are is constant, and it requires energy, adaptability, and resilience. As I have evolved, I have acquired new ways of maintaining balance and inner well-being. All this is not to suggest that balance and well-being are permanent states of being; on the contrary, they are like constant goals to achieve. Sometimes I am successful at arriving at balance and well-being, and sometimes I am not. Ultimately, the point is that I, and all of us, strive to find that sweet spot where we feel our feelings embrace ourselves with compassion and use self-reflection and self-awareness as a means to get a little better and a little braver every day. Here are the things that have helped me:
Books
Books have been a constant in my life. They are gifts with immeasurable value. I could name so many, but the following are the ones that are recommended as a starting
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point, no matter where you are in your journey of healing and love: When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times, by Pema Chödrön. This book was suggested to me over fifteen years ago, and it changed my life. Chödrön, born Deirdre Blomfield-Brown, is an American Buddhist nun. Before becoming ordained in her thirties, she graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and taught as an elementary school teacher. She lives in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, at Gampo Abbey, an establishment for Western monks and nuns. She has written many books, including The Wisdom of No Escape, Start Where You Are, The Places That Scare You, and Smile at Fear. When Things Fall Apart is by far her most famous and revered1. The title speaks volumes about the content and guidance found within. It truly is good heart advice. For instance, on our relationship to others and ourselves she writes: “The only reason that we don’t open our hearts and minds to other people is that they trigger confusion in us that we don’t feel brave enough or sane enough to deal with. To the degree that we look clearly and compassionately at
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