Youroumein

29 May 2011 2 Comments

by Camille in Uncategorized

Youroumein, an Arawakan word for St. Vincent, is said to mean the beauty of the rainbows in the valleys.

On its best days Youroumein sparkles like a gem in the sun, rainbows painting the sky and valleys overflowing with light. The mountains are lush with a thousand shades of green as freshwater streams connect mountaintops to ocean depths, sustaining life on its path from sky to sea. Youroumein gives us her land, her flora, her fauna, and she asks for nothing in return. She is like a whole heart living, feeling, absorbing and giving, fully and completely.

But she is also scarred from traumas, disasters and pain, inflicted by ruthless forces in the hand of Nature and of man. In her selfless generosity she has experienced suffering through loss of her personal treasures as rainforests, shorelines and communities slowly disappear. Her pain is felt as deeply as the love she gives, and she sits vulnerably in a sea of infinite tears. She is an island after all…

Youroumein teaches us to live selflessly and with compassion and humility, and in her quiet suffering beckons us to ask ourselves how we can help to heal our collective wounds. How can we offer our best selves for the benefit of the greater good? …and when we hurt, how can we find the strength to forgive the source of our pain and share what heals us so that we can continue to keep giving with our whole hearts?

“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity.” -Paulo Coelho