Tattoo your Scars

 We have all suffered loss, sickness, death of someone we love, the break up of a friendship, a lover, loss of a job, loss of integrity?

We have all experienced pain. The pain of feeling left out, abandoned, not enough, being pushed out, talked about, blocked, lost, unloved.

We have all been on both sides of the fence.

These are all opportunities to grow, to learn to love, to keep your heart wide open AND these are also opportunities to fold up, close up, fall down, become less, become angry, bitter, sad, revengeful or act in ways that we wouldn’t normally.

Every single human being has gone through something like this in some form sometime in their life.

It’s part of being here on earth as a human, here on earth, experiencing life.

Moving through these times can feel overwhelming, all consuming and very painful. Some people move quickly though these experiences and other people are brought to their knees.

Just because we ‘handled’ it well once doesn’t mean we will get it ‘right’ the next time. With practice, and hopefully sharing our story of how we overcame the struggle with others, we can discover the ‘golden egg’ that lays inside of the pain that we had to move through to get there.

We can maybe begin to see these moments as places to learn a little bit more about who we are and with a little bit more understanding, some love and acceptance for ourselves and others maybe the next time something happens we will be able to recognize that things never happen to us, but for us.

We all have scars.

mary ann burrows

Throughout life, I have taught myself the art of tattooing my own scars with flowering vines, railway tracks and roadways.

They have become my lines to be written upon. I have learned how to use them as diving boards and through self work, turn them into the golden stories of how I found my way.

STRUGGLES become scars and stories of transformation, a legacy, and a gift that I have been given to teach other people.  By learning how to love more and how to forgive more and to move on, I have learned how to change my story from ‘the struggle story’ to a ‘good life lesson’ that helps others.

My scars sit as mindfully painted masterpieces, on top of a deep knowing and an understanding of the real hardship that I endured, that lay just beneath their surface.

mary ann burrows

The biggest lessons I have discovered to date :

1. It is never ever, ever too late to let things go.
2. It is never ever, ever too late to become conscious.
3. Learn to understand that others stumble and that they have their own motives.
4. Life is a struggle. You can make it worst than it actually is or you can learn to be free and love completely and openly through forgiveness. 
5. It is so important to be able to cancel all debt. (Sometimes it takes a few hours, sometimes it takes a few years.)
6. A willingness to let go of things is not about giving up, or letting someone off the hook. It doesn’t mean forgive and forget. It doesn’t mean take them to your bosom. It means, I am no longer going to hold this hurt. I release the hurt, but take the lesson.
7. Forgiveness doesn’t need to be spoken, only known.
8. Growth can be hard, damn it! Growth can be hard and it often depends on you. How hard did you fall? How much did you need to change and go through in order to wake up, fully?
9. Have strength BUT keep an open and innocent heart.

Forgiveness, and awareness of self have often become the turning points in my struggle story. When I became conscious and finally understood how I got through, the story changed from a story as a victim and became the bigger story to tell and the one that helps others.

You are never too old to climb the tree of life so you can see things from different vantage points.

It’s ok to share our stories of tragedy and loss, but even more important to tell our stories of triumph and over-coming.

These are the golden parts of your story that people in the world need to hear to help them move through the struggles in their own lives..

Take time to look at the stories in your own life. Are you telling the story as a victim or from the eyes of someone who managed to find their way through adversity and pain?

If so, how did you make it through? What did you have to do on the inside to get you through? What did you learn about yourself and about life? Why did this experience happen FOR you? Thats the story the world needs to hear.

Be the light for everyone. 

With much love,

M