your daily rock : be tender

March 15, 2013 in Daily Rock, General

“Tender,” she said again. “Tender is kind and gentle. It’s also sore, like the skin around an injury.” -Brenna Yovanoff, The Space Between

I love that quote about what it is to be tender. We often think of “tender” as kind and gentle; not so often as skin healing after a wound. Both are tender, and both are important. My ring finger on my left hand is numb at the very tip from learning to play the fiddle, pressing so intently on the string with it. I find myself aware of that numb soreness, more than I am aware of my other fingertips. Sometimes tenderness is a way of focusing, the soreness a way of grounding our attention in the moment.

Be fully tender today; focus on what is sore.

Love,

(These beautifully painted rocks are created by Kim Mailhot, aka The Rock Fairy.

About Patti Digh

Patti Digh is an author, speaker, and educator who builds learning communities and gets to the heart of difficult topics. Her work over the last three decades has focused on diversity, inclusion, social justice, and living and working mindfully. She has developed diversity strategies and educational programming for major nonprofit and corporate organizations and has been a featured speaker at many national and international conferences.