This is the cover art from one of my favorite books. The image illustrates the story well. The weight of the world is on the broad, capable shoulders of Atlas. The world is balanced, and safe as long as he holds strong. Do the people walking around on the earth even notice the enormous job Atlas is performing on their behalf? Do they know the sacrifice, or the personal strength it takes to carry that load? What if Atlas were to shrug? Where would they be then? More importantly, what would Atlas do without that burden on his back? Atlas is a metaphor for the hard working people of the world, the contributors, those that produce. Tonight at yoga class we were working on opening up our shoulders. My shoulders are typically tight, and I have to consciously remember to roll them down and away from my ears. Shoulder work takes effort for me, and tonight was no exception. While we were in the middle of a particularly challenging pose with a very small movement we switched quickly from stretching shoulders into opening up our chest. The instructor explained that when our shoulders are tight, it makes it difficult for our chest to open. The tight shoulders pull our chest inward.
At that moment my understanding opened up and I made a connection. When we shoulder too many burdens, carry more than our own load, it makes it difficult for our hearts to be open. The emotional, energetic weight on our shoulders forces our hearts to close-in for protection.
Look at Atlas. Where is his heart? Can you see his chest? It's closed and protected, to garner the strength, to bare the load. He isn't standing - it's too much. It is not right for one person to carry the weight of the world. Even Atlas isn't really designed to do it for the long haul. Carrying that much takes it's toll, and severely limits the joy the barer can experience.
It is hard to love when we try to carry it all. We have to let those burdens go if we are to truly be open to love and be loved. The burdens are not ours to shoulder. We need to shrug them off, let them roll on by, and open up our hearts and embrace the love. Go ahead and shrug.
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