21/07/2025
When Shoulder Pain Is More Than Just Physical:
A Conversation That Unlocks the Burdens of the Heart
In the serene, private space of a massage room, softly lit and filled with the gentle aroma of essential oils, a well-known writer lay on the therapy bed. The silence was broken by the voice of "Mek," a skilled therapist, who was working on his tense shoulders.
"Your shoulders feel unusually tight today," the therapist remarked calmly.
"I guess it's from sitting at the computer for too long," the writer replied.
The therapist paused for a moment, then said with a thought-provoking tone, "Yes... or perhaps, our bodies are simply reflecting the stories our hearts are carrying."
That simple sentence made the writer pause. "Reflecting stories? Like a mirror?"
"Something like that," Mek answered, his hands moving to the writer's back. "Our bodies are smarter than we think. They hold onto everything we experience... every word, every feeling, every story yet to be written. When we don't know where to put it all, it settles in our shoulders and back, just like this."
The seemingly simple conversation slowly guided the writer on a deeper journey inward.
Mek then posed a curious riddle: "I'm reminded of a strange sentence... 'I am my father's third son, but I am my mother's only child.' ...If you heard this, what kind of story comes to your mind?"
As a man who weaves stories for a living, the writer's mind lit up instantly. "It's a story about a secret... a complicated family, a hidden truth that needs to be uncovered. It's about what isn't being said out loud."
"Exactly... Everyone has a secret," Mek added softly. "But a secret isn't always something terrible. Sometimes, it's just a 'private room' where we keep things to protect someone's feelings... or even our own."
The writer contemplated this, then mused, "Like the color black..."
"Oh?"
"I used to think of secrets as being like the color black... dark and mysterious. But now that you say that, I realize that black can be paired with so many other colors. Next to white, it creates clarity. Next to gold, it creates luxury... I suppose secrets are the same. It all depends on what truth you place beside them."
Mek smiled faintly, applying and then releasing pressure on the tightest spot. "That's a brilliant insight from a writer. You see the 'dimensions' of it, not just the 'darkness'."
The conversation reached its most powerful point.
"Perhaps... my job isn't so different from that of a 'mirror'," Mek said. "I'm not the one who can solve the knots in your story. But I might be able to adjust the angle of that mirror... to help you 'reflect on yourself' from a perspective you've never seen before."
"To help you see that the 'secret' you're carrying on your shoulders might just be a 'shade of black' waiting for the 'gold' of understanding to be placed beside it."
At that, the writer let out a long, deep sigh... as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his soul. "My shoulders... they feel so much lighter now."
Mek smiled gently. "The body never lies. When the mind gains clarity, the burdens we carry lighten on their own."
This story reflects that sometimes, the greatest release doesn't come from trying to "eliminate" our pain, but from "understanding" it from a new perspective—like looking into a mirror that has been perfectly angled to reveal the solution that was within us all along.
