Putting On and Taking Off Armor

From the Tabula Mundi Tarot, the Five of Disks; from the Alchemist's Oracle, "Healing:"

          Meleen describes this card as the "chains of materiality that bind the mind." A padlocked chain and a huge nail through the disks (with the bottom one cracked) are efforts to prevent further loss and ease worry. I understand this impractical way of dealing with loss. Let a pet die, a job end or a major health concern happen, and humans instinctively move to shield themselves in any way possible from being vulnerable in the physical world. Yet this reaction only serves to constrict our hearts and minds while offering no protection from an impermanent world. What is the key for opening the lock, the alternative for shutting down and shutting out?
          Aletta's Healing card is welcome, and I can almost feel myself relaxing as I imagine sipping that hot cup of tea. She suggests it means that once the grief of loss begins to subside, the work of unblocking new pathways can begin. Instead of trying to fight or flee, I take off my armor, embrace it all and lean into it. I allow my heart to experience hurt, yet I continue to welcome what brings joy with open arms. For it is its impermanence that makes it so precious and beautiful.

 Gloriousness and wretchedness need each other. One inspires us, the other softens us. 

~ Pema Chodron