Heidi and Clara: A Story of Compassion and Healing
The Story of Heidi
Finding role models to emulate is an important part of building our sense of self-efficacy.
Self-efficacy is the belief that we have the capacity to initiate and sustain a desired behavior.
It helps us feel confident in our ability to meet the challenges of managing our fibromyalgia well.
This is why I often remind the women I work with of the beloved story of Heidi and her friend Clara.
If you want to reread the story you can download the book on Kindle for only $1.99. [1]
Below is a synopsis of the tale of Heidi:
Heidi is an orphaned five-year-old whose aunt brings her to the mountains to live with her ornery grandfather. While there, Heidi befriends her neighbors, a goatherd named Peter and his grandmother. Heidi’s kind and positive nature eventually softens her grandfather’s tough demeanor.
Without warning, Heidi’s aunt returns and takes her to live in Frankfurt. She is placed with a wealthy couple, the Sesemanns, and asked to serve as a companion to their wheelchair-bound daughter, Clara. The two girls become close friends, but Heidi is desperately homesick for the mountains.
While in Frankfurt, Heidi becomes ill, growing increasingly pale and thin. On doctor’s orders, Heidi is returned to her mountain home, her grandfather and friends.
Clara later visits Heidi and the Swiss mountain air miraculously helps Clara regain the ability to walk. Clara’s father is overjoyed and promises to care for Heidi after her grandfather passes away. [2]
Growing up I was fascinated by the description of Heidi exploring her grandfather’s hut for the first time.
I was delighted with every aspect of the story including her friendship with Peter the young goatherd and Heidi’s tender relationship with Peter’s blind grandmother.
However, it was the uplifting power of nature in the Swiss Alps, the love of family and an emotional attachment to home that Heidi ultimately shares with Clara that has stuck with me all these years.
Heidi suffered when she was separated from the freedom and joy she experienced in her lovely mountain home.
She was restored to health when she was allowed to return.
Later, when Clara comes to visit, Heidi is eager to show her all the natural wonders of her idyllic mountain life.
Gradually through spending time in nature and with the support of Heidi and her grandfather and their neighbors, Clara grows stronger, calmer and more confident and eventually learns to walk again.
My favorite quote in the whole story is after Clara, sans wheelchair, runs to meet her father who comes to visit. Meanwhile, Heidi dances around her singing, “I knew the mountains would make you well! I knew they would make you well!”
To my mind, this is one of the most precious scenes of healing in literature.
Now clearly, we cannot all go to the Swiss Alps to cure our fibromyalgia. but there are some principles in this story that we can tease out to help us in our journey with chronic illness.
Write a Compassionate Letter to Yourself
Consider visualizing your own inner Heidi and Clara and use your active imagination to have a dialogue with each inner character.
You can use the following questions as prompts for your imaginings.
What do you know in your gut would help you heal?
Is it a commitment to spend time in nature or to nourish yourself with high quality food?
Do you need to connect with loved ones more deeply or find a way to be of service in your community?
Whatever is calling to you, what would be one small step forward to facilitate this healing for yourself as Heidi did for Clara?
Writing a compassionate letter to yourself, as described by Dr. Kristin Neff, is a powerful exercise that can help you clarify where you have been, where you are and where you are going.
You could try writing to yourself as a compassionate friend following the guidance below, maybe using Heidi or Clara’s voice to create an inner dialogue.
Writing a Compassionate Letter to Yourself
Part One: Which imperfections make you feel inadequate?
Everybody has something about themselves that they don’t like; something that causes them to feel shame, to feel insecure, or not “good enough.” It is the human condition to be imperfect, and feelings of failure and inadequacy are part of the experience of living a human life. Try writing about an issue you have that tends to make you feel inadequate or bad about yourself (physical appearance, work or relationship issues…) What emotions come up for you when you think about this aspect of yourself? Try to just feel your emotions exactly as they are – no more, no less – and then write about them.
Part Two: Write a letter to yourself from the perspective of an unconditionally loving imaginary friend
Now think about an imaginary friend who is unconditionally loving, accepting, kind and compassionate. Imagine that this friend can see all your strengths and all your weaknesses, including the aspect of yourself you have just been writing about.
Reflect upon what this friend feels towards you, and how you are loved and accepted exactly as you are, with all your very human imperfections.
This friend recognizes the limits of human nature, and is kind and forgiving towards you. In his/her great wisdom this friend understands your life history and the millions of things that have happened in your life to create you as you are in this moment. Your particular inadequacy is connected to so many things you didn’t necessarily choose: your genes, your family history, life circumstances – things that were outside of your control.
Write a letter to yourself from the perspective of this imaginary friend – focusing on the perceived inadequacy you tend to judge yourself for. What would this friend say to you about your “flaw” from the perspective of unlimited compassion?
How would this friend convey the deep compassion he/she feels for you, especially for the pain you feel when you judge yourself so harshly? What would this friend write in order to remind you that you are only human, that all people have both strengths and weaknesses?
And if you think this friend would suggest possible changes you should make, how would these suggestions embody feelings of unconditional understanding and compassion? As you write to yourself from the perspective of this imaginary friend, try to infuse your letter with a strong sense of his/her acceptance, kindness, caring, and desire for your health and happiness.
Part Three: Feel the compassion as it soothes and comforts you
After writing the letter, put it down for a little while. Then come back and read it again, really letting the words sink in. Feel the compassion as it pours into you, soothing and comforting you like a cool breeze on a hot day. Love, connection and acceptance are your birthright. To claim them you need only look within yourself. [4]
References:
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Heidi-Fully-illustrated-Colour-Johanna-ebook/dp/B0C15DRQZY/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1695243399&sr=1-8
[2] https://theswisstimes.ch/heidi-homesickness-and-the-lore-of-switzerland/
[3] https://theswisstimes.ch/heidi-homesickness-and-the-lore-of-switzerland/
[4] https://self-compassion.org/exercise-3-exploring-self-compassion-writing/
