“I celebrate myself,” the poet Walt Whitman wrote. The thought is so delicious it is almost obscene. Imagine the joy that would come with celebrating the self—our achievements, our experiences, our existence. Imagine what it would be like to look into the mirror and say, as God taught us, “That’s good.”
+Sister Joan Chittister, Walt Whitman in Light in the Darkness Loving-kindness for oneself is the golden key to appreciating other people, even the ones that drive you crazy.
+Pema Chopra in Buddhist Acts of Compassion
IT’S BEEN A CHALLENGE to decide just what to write about for this article for the month of June. Father’s Day came to mind immediately, followed by weddings and anniversaries, sports (mostly baseball, golf, tennis, and fishing), and of course just plain being able to go outside and enjoy the outdoors without being bundled up or sweating too much yet. When this challenge presents itself to me, I turn to my trusty folder of favorite quotes and articles and hope that something strikes my fancy, and something did.
Being part of a culture that seems to be focused on the self these days, I was struck by Sister Joan Chittister and Pema Chopra’s positive support of celebrating the self and showing loving-kindness for oneself. They’re not talking about selfishness or a me-myself-and-I attitude but encouraging us to appreciate ourselves for who we are and for what we have been able to accomplish over our lives, and that, in turn, will help us to appreciate the individuality and uniqueness of others who may drive us crazy. Sounds like a plan to me.
I don’t know about you, but I find it easy to beat up on myself over the smallest things and of course find it easier to feel guilty about the things I decide are really big flaws in myself. That Catholic guilt is still alive and well! It’s been a lifelong challenge to take a long, loving look at myself and see the goodness, kindness, gentleness, openness, and silliness and actually enjoy the way my life has turned out so far, and I’m looking forward to seeing where we go from here.
Giving some perspective for all this life reflection, I call to mind the happenings that have affected me just in the past month. As a Catholic Sister, the death of Pope Francis was both a sad and a blessed event for me. I admired him and all he did to bring Jesus’s message and actions to all the world and to all people in a very human and real way. I very much appreciated that he did not hide his frailty and did what he had to do, with the help of others, to still be the Pope he was called to be. I felt that he did all this while being in great pain and when he did die, I felt it was a blessing. When Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected and chose the name Pope Leo IV, I was delighted and surprised, delighted because Robert Francis was my religious name, and surprised because it all seemed to happen so quickly.
As “I celebrate myself,” I’m very aware that a family member has been diagnosed with cancer again, a dear friend who has cancer is experiencing more difficulties, my brother called and told me of his serious surgery, memory loss among my peers is becoming more and more common, and some of my own health issues are continuing to progress. All this is overwhelming. I must confess that looking into the mirror and saying “that’s good” is not always possible and getting along with people who drive me crazy isn’t either, but when I take time to celebrate all that has happened and is going on in my life one day at a time, I do think that celebrating myself is as necessary as breathing. It’s something I must do to stay in a sacred and precious state of being.
Celebrate yourself!
Sister Mary Thill is a Sylvania Franciscan Sister. She can be reached at mthill@sistersosf.org. ✲
