Last night, my 11-year-old daughter asked me a question
about something that came up during a recent extended family dinner. She knew the topic being discussed was probably hard for me to sit with. She worried I might have felt excluded because my personal views and life choices were different. Her big heart is always trying to make sure her mom feels taken care of.
I found myself explaining to her that I was genuinely happy for those at the table who were excited about the topic.
And also… it was okay my life looks different.
Both were okay.
Both were true.
“Does that make sense?” I asked her.
She nodded easily, as if it was normal and natural to let two different things be true.
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But I sat there in quiet awe.
She was absorbing something at age 11 that I didn’t begin to understand until decades later:
👉 That two things can be true at once.
No one had ever taught me that. I’d never even heard that concept growing up. There was always just one truth — and anything else was wrong or bad.
Because it took me so long to learn this, I still find myself marveling that it’s humanly possible to hold two opposing things… and not be fractured by it.
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It’s not just a mental shift. It’s a somatic one, too.
Sometimes I feel tension in my body when I begin to sit with two truths.
But often — surprisingly — the tension only comes from my mind telling me there’s only one right way to think, be, or do.
And when I let that thought go?
My body expands. It makes space.
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One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned in recent years is how to hold space for complexity.
To allow two seemingly opposing things to be true — and simply watch what happens.
- In my mind.
- In my body.
- But most of all, in my heart.
When I enter that experiment with sincerity, I’m often amazed to find:
There’s peace, not war, inside of me.
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If there’s a skill the world desperately needs right now…
this would be near the top of the list:
- Can I sit with opposing ideas and let them both be valid?
- Can I sit with opposing experiences and let them both be valid?
- Can I sit with opposing parts inside of myself — parts that want different things — and let them both be valid?
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Our dualistic minds love to pick sides.
We’re often quick to label things as right or wrong. It feels simpler, more certain.
But here’s the thing:
Sometimes holding opposites doesn’t make sense in the mind.
But it can make sense in the body.
And I will always trust the body first.
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Here’s what I’ve noticed:
When I’m grounded in a regulated nervous system — and I can meet two truths with compassion —
👉 my mind usually softens and follows.
Even without a neat, logical reason.
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Practicing Wholeness Inquiry:
✨ What two opposing elements in your life are asking to be held… together?
✨ Can you make space for both, even just for a moment?
✨ What happens inside you when both are allowed to be?
Watch what happens.
You are loved.
Delightfully,
brooke
PS — If your heart is holding mixed desires or opposite truths right now, you’re not alone. Next week’s Creation Circle and Breathwork Session is a space to learn this art. Come if you’re feeling called.