Uncategorized

Call of the Loons

by Emma Laurence

I wake at 4:45am to kayak before sunrise. It’s our last morning on Lake Andrusia in northern Minnesota. I love the call of the loons, and rising before dawn means I might savor that sound one last time.

While not quite in my body yet, I manage my clothes, life jacket, and hat. I stumble out the cabin door with one thing in mind, get to the kayak—which is why I don’t see the great blue heron until I startle her into flight.

Stop, Emma, I chide myself. Slow down, match the stillness of the morning, and listen. As I watch the wide, slate blue wingspan lift, I recalibrate my pace to the surrounding stillness.

And at that moment, a loon’s two-toned call rises from the north, answered by the same interval from the east. The sound causes me to inhale a quick breath of delight. Then, I hold and wait.

Meanwhile, a mother duck and seven baby ducklings gently bob along the shoreline. I watch them glide under the dock and continue their morning swim towards the Mississippi River.

When all quiets again, I flip the kayak that’d been resting upside down on the sandy beach. I choose a paddle among those leaning against the boathouse. The kayak scrapes the shallow bottom as I push out into smooth, glassy water.

This hour of pre-dawn holds treasures like no other.

I paddle towards the east where light glows just above the tree line of the far shore. As I float forward, the color intensifies to a deep salmon.

Mid-lake, I pause to look back. To my surprise, the full moon is still visible in the western sky. Thin, translucent clouds cross its orb, creating a misty effect.

The southern sky is pale blue, mostly cloudless. In contrast, the northern sky is cloud-covered.

To the east, the rich salmon glow softens to purple gray. Light cast from the coming sunrise tints surrounding striated clouds a pale pink.

Silence. A fish jumps. Now, the fading purple is gradually replaced by gold.

And still, my heart dares to hope for more loons.

That’s when they call again! Yes, it’s a 1-4, I check with my memory of musical intervals. Then a 1-4-7. Then higher—and laughter, like a kookaburra.

I watch the golden glow build in brilliance until the sun’s rays pierce the horizon, stinging my eyes.

This feels like a sacred initiation.

I pivot the boat 360 degrees, like a camera panning the lake’s full form.

The hum of a small motor heralds the start of the fishing day. My kayak rocks slightly as the wind picks up. A sound vibrates in my right ear, as if my eardrum is fluttering.

In time, I paddle back to shore, changed. This is what I came for—wilderness, beauty, stillness, and silence. Except for the haunting, healing call of the loons.

Photo by Bruce Fuller

If you know one or two people who’d benefit by reading this story,
please do pass it along.

You’re invited to subscribe here💜

Don’t Go Back—Go Forward!

by Emma Laurence

Covid changed everything, one Millennial businesswoman told me this week. How do we not return to our old patterns? asked another. And what’s the new toolset? added a third. When I replied, you mean, don’t go back—go forward? the answer was a resounding yes! Here’s how that’s possible.

The Gift of Covid-19

If Covid changed your priorities, or awakened a dream in you, this is your call to move forward in a new way. For all the challenges a world pandemic brings, the opportunity is just as great.

Change leads to re-discovery of our deepest values, priorities, and dreams. Can we allow the rubble at our feet to disintegrate and welcome new building materials? If so, we can craft a tailor-made life that’s far better than the old.

A Tailor-Made Life

What are these new building materials? In working with hundreds of students and clients over years, I’ve identified three elements that make for an easier transition from old to new—commitment, pace, and disciplined practice. These elements, when they arise from within, not only provide a smooth transition, they actually reveal the new structure.

Let’s look at each one separately, so you can gauge where you’re at now, and find your next step.

#1: Commitment

Have you identified what matters most to you in your life? If not, commit to this as your first inquiry. But, if you know what’s on your short list, you’re ready to look at the level of commitment you’re willing to invest.

Now, Millennials having trouble with commitment is a popular judgment, even within members of their own generation. I don’t buy the stereotype. The Millennials I’ve worked with for decades as a teacher, director, and coach are very committed to their dreams. Every generation has its stars and its slackers.

The commitment question is simply what are you willing to give for what you want to get? Each of us has freedom to choose how much time, money, energy, and love we want to give to a project.

Dreams are the kind of projects that bring joy to even think about—a sure sign our hearts want to invest. Joy is the fuel of commitment. Start with joy and you’ll find out where you really stand.

#2: Pace

Once you know what you’re willing to give or not, you can align with a long-term view of how to manifest that dream. Short-term, full-throttle energy as a lifestyle always leads to burnout. That’s one of those don’t go back habits.

Our quality of life depends more on pace than nearly any other factor. Why? Most of us bought into a cultural illusion that faster is always better. Frantic striving to keep up a social media image, an overstuffed work schedule, and an out-of-balance personal to-do list only prove you’ve bought into someone else’s pace. And that robs you of your joy.

Faster is not always better. Life is a wave—sometimes fast, sometimes slow—that we can ride. We don’t need the anxious, panicked sprint anymore. That’s another one of those don’t go back habits.

Instead, discover your true, healthy pace—and trust it. Trust life to bring you what you need. Yes, you can learn how to cultivate trust.

#3 Disciplined Practices

The best definition of discipline I ever heard was from David Campbell, founder of Saks Fifth Avenue.  He said, discipline is remembering what you want.

Our daily, weekly, and monthly practices are where the rubber meets the road. To build a new structure, we must be willing to establish those practices that provide the stability and the grace for change.

What are your practices? What diet, exercise, work/life balance, relationships, hobbies, or spiritual explorations will support the new vision? Remember, even if you can’t yet see that vision, you can still engage the disciplines that will carry you through the transition time.

Joyful practices are easy. Every time I get in a kayak or on a bike, I feel joy. It’s exercise, but I’m not grinding at it. Sometimes when I do a vocal warm-up, though, I have to remember I want to get my singing voice back in shape.  For that result, I must put in technical work.

Don’t Go Back—Go Forward

Start by identifying what you want. If you only know what you don’t want, start by making a commitment to change. Then, explore! Let life show you something unexpected, and be willing to be happily surprised.

Once you catch the joy, let it fuel you. Choose your healthy pace. Set up disciplined practices to support a long-term view. 

If you need help in any step, reach out. So many great coaches, teachers, therapists, and mentors are committed to helping you do it your way. I’m one of many.

So, no excuses: don’t go back—go forward!

Photo by Armand Khoury on Unsplash

Information on a free assessment: https://lifeiscoachingyou.com/contact-emma/

If you know someone who would benefit by reading this post, please share!

You’re invited to subscribe here💜

Uncategorized

Your ‘Gold Butterfly’ Life Message?

by Emma Laurence

Life sends me messages day and night. Slowly, I’ve begun to learn the unique language in which life speaks to my heart. I help my clients to do the same. When I notice a life message that’s right in front of them, I ask a follow up question. Often, they’ve missed a big clue to their urgent concern or challenge. This gift, tailored to each individual, is what I’m now calling, a ‘gold butterfly.’ Here’s why:

The Set Up

My husband and I had new carpet installed in our small living room. It’s the only downstairs space that’s carpeted, and we decided to test out this room before upgrading the whole upstairs.

Thank God we did! The outgassing from one room of new carpeting made all of us (husband, wife, and cat) sick. We had headaches. My body went into fight-or-flight and would tremble if I went downstairs. Our cat was hangdog.

Bit by bit, we found ways to address the troublesome toxic fumes. Besides opening windows and wedging in an outwards-blowing fan, we swept baking soda into the fibers to absorb odors. We vacuumed vigorously, and even borrowed a second air purifier to run both 24/7.

Life Message

At one point, I had to stay overnight with friends to take a break from the fumes. That night, I asked what life was trying to teach me about outgassing. I became the curious explorer: what were these toxic fumes teaching me about my own state of mind?

Was it an uncomfortable sleeping night? Yep. But by morning I had an answer. I needed to take more responsibility for an embarrassing habit. Without fully realizing it, I’d been engaging in gossip in two ways.

First, I’d been listening to a neighbor complain and blame others for a problem in her life. I was trying to be a compassionate listener, but every time we met, she got into a bad groove. So, I was not helping her (or me) by providing a listening ear.

Second, I’d been expressing negative opinions about a group of people whose behavior outraged me.  My inner critic had been outgassing.

I once heard a spiritual teacher describe gossip as poison. Just poison. He warned against indulging this habit or even being around those who do.

The Gold Butterfly

That morning at my friend’s house, I felt a bit vulnerable and disappointed in myself. How had I not caught this before life had to send such a dramatic message? I didn’t judge or punish myself as I’ve done in the past. But I did feel a little down.

Then, when I got out of bed, I discovered a gold butterfly ornament that I’d apparently been lying on all night. I had no idea where it came from—and neither did my friends! Though they recognized the butterfly as part of their collection, they couldn’t imagine how it got into the sheets of the guest bed.

For me, this gift required little interpretation. The butterfly was me, choosing a higher level of refinement. This life message confirmed that I was on the right track. The gold butterfly was a sweet reminder to be kind to myself as I transformed.

The Practical Remedy

Life always answers my questions in a practical sense, too. What was I learning in physical terms? That next day, my husband and I discovered a mineral called zeolite.  Among other things, it’s used for water treatment in aquariums, odor absorption in cat litter boxes, and toxic gas elimination in carpets.

When the zeolite arrived, we spread it on the carpet, worked it into the fibers, and waited an hour. With intensive vacuuming, 80-90% of the problem resolved.

[Note: For those of you who chant as part of your spiritual practice, you’ll get a laugh that I started chanting zeolite even before the product arrived. The word had special meaning for me. I wanted to experiment with cleaning up mental outgassing, and it worked!]

Your Tailor-Made Message?

Could a life message of support, healing, or encouragement be right in front of you now as you navigate your daily stressors? What might that be?

Any symbol, image, or sound that grabs our attention can be a gift just waiting to be received. Often, I find it’s best to decode through the heart rather than the mind. The mind can endlessly interpret, but the heart recognizes love instantly.

More about that in a future post. Meanwhile, let me know if you discover a gold butterfly in your midst.

Photo by Melanie Morales on Unsplash

If you know one or two people who would benefit from reading this post, please feel free to forward on.

You’re invited to subscribe here💜

Making Life Easier

by Emma Laurence

Teaching preschool music years ago, I learned from the pros that success for a pre-K classroom is all about the transitions. 

Drop off time.  Play time.  Snack time.  Nap time.  When the adults prepared activity stations in advance and gently guided the little ones’ attention, blending from one to the next, there were a lot fewer tears. 

I don’t need to tell you that this has been one challenging year.  Lots of losses and changes—a world in profound transition.  

Have you found yourself slowing down and tending that space between? As my husband recently advised me, “let the river carry you for a while.”

Zoey’s Changing World

One morning, our cat Zoey jumped up on the bed to nestle into my side.  She likes my arm around her body so she’s all snuggled in.  When I’m wearing short sleeves, she’ll nuzzle the inside of my elbow and even try to suckle at my skin.

Zoey was taken from her mom at six weeks—too young for a kitten.  When we got her at a year old, we were warned of her habit and history. 

But it’s cold in Minnesota now, so I’m in long-sleeved pajamas.  Nuzzling her nose into my elbow doesn’t quite satisfy the same way.  What’s a cat to do?

I thought about how hard it must be for her to keep wanting her mom and that particular bond of food, safety and love.  Time has marched on.  

She has human parents now who love her differently.  Food comes in a bowl.  There’s still safety in closeness, but love is scratching under the chin or behind the ears, stroking her fur with a human hand.   Pretty different.

Then, I wondered.  How often does the form of love change in our own lives while we struggle to keep up? 

Love Shifts Form

The most dramatic example comes when someone we love leaves this earthly world.  We may have been used to years of daily contact.  We may miss that soul terribly, that specific way of being close.

For example, a dear friend’s beautiful greyhound suddenly collapsed a couple of months ago.  A sweet new dog came into her life sooner than expected, requiring her to draw on compassion, patience and trust in transitioning to a new family.

The same is true for other endings—relationship break ups, losses of friendships or homes, of jobs or careers, or heartfelt dreams.  Qualities like gentleness and gratitude provide buffers to make the shift easier.

Are We All in Pre-school?

What if a teaching force in the universe smooths our way in everyday life like a good preschool teacher?  If we look, we may be surprised to see that experiences have been prepared just for us—including time for rest, nourishment and creativity.  Trusting and following that rhythm eases our way. 

Even during a global shift, we can allow time and space in our personal universe for transitions.  Consider the daily reminder of the sunrise that pales our sky slowly from darkness to color to brighter light.

Photo by Jonas Vincent on Unsplash

*If you know someone who might benefit from reading this story, please do pass it along. Thank you!

You’re invited to subscribe here💜

Uncategorized

A New Level of Selflessness

by Emma Laurence

Two dozen cedar waxwings landed on a tree in our neighbor’s backyard.  My husband and I shared binoculars back and forth, admiring their markings and the rare opportunity to witness a museum’s migration.  [Yes, a flock of waxwings is called a museum.]

In researching these birds, we discovered a sweet behavior.  Waxwings share the red berries they eat and have even been cited passing one, beak to beak, down an entire line of birds.  It’s also part of the mating ritual for a male to give a berry to a female, she to give it back to him, and so on, until she finally accepts it and, presumably, him.

The appearance of a generous, community-based species at this moment in time underscored a new level of selflessness to which I’m feeling called lately.  It’s a level of letting go that’s neither easy nor comfortable.  In fact, for me, it’s quite the challenge.

This release of self is at the level of the ego—the keeper of opinions, judgments, and thoughts, with a “my will be done” approach. It often operates out of fear, particularly fear of loss.  And it doesn’t have to be overinflated to the point of arrogance to cause unhappiness, disharmony or agitation. 

I’d use the term egoism to describe my experience.  When I’m preoccupied with myself and my own learning experiences, I adopt an Emma-centric view of the universe. For example, it’s easy for me to take things personally, obsess about having offended someone, judge others and myself too harshly, or see the world through the limited lens of my past. 

I understand that this is common human behavior.  And I’ve learned to be kind to myself while I grow and mature.  But this ego-mechanism can interfere with being a clear channel of service to grace and love.

We all get to choose our thoughts and behaviors as well as our goals.  My mission is to be available to serve all life, moment by moment.  If I insist on seeing through the narrow viewfinder of my own mind, if I criticize myself or others, or if I buy into a fear of survival or failure, I risk losing this core purpose.

So, for me, now is a time of going more silent.  I know some believe that not speaking out or not engaging in socio-political dialogue is a cop out, or even indicates complicity with criminal behavior.  I’d rather give freedom to those who hold their own opinions while I research a deeper way to serve humanity.

Perhaps I’m simply saying that I aspire to be more like the waxwing, silently passing a red berry to my neighbor.

Photo by Gary Bendig on Unsplash

You’re invited to subscribe here💜

Shifting to the Core

by Emma Laurence

If you’re like me, you’ve spent a lot of time with your thoughts.  At times, they’ve crowded the inner landscape to such a degree that you’ve exhausted yourself, become confused and frustrated, and had a hard time sleeping.  They can be of a negative nature or an excitable one; the impact on the nervous system seems similar.

The focus on thoughts in our world today—and plenty of words to describe them that get rehashed on media outlets—creates a loop pattern.  Certain ideas or beliefs run and re-run until a groove settles in that can then be difficult to undo.  Add to this that children take on the patterns in their home, society and culture of origin, and it’s pretty hard to tell which voice inside our heads is truly our own, if we bother to ask.

I have a steel-trap sort of mind that won’t let go.  It gets bored easily, wants to “figure out” everything, and insists it’s at the top of my identity’s food chain. 

I’m also blessed and challenged with a sensitive, empathic, easily hurt emotional heart that I’ve learned to protect and tend.

Yet beyond mind and heart lies a territory that we humans must explore if we’re to evolve.  At the core of any living being is a true spiritual intention that may or may not make sense to the mind and emotions. 

The core intention serves all life (within and without) from a higher perspective that embraces everything below. It’s the truth behind what we do. Like unconditional love, this core can resonate as respect, compassion, charity, or even bonds of brotherhood. It can express itself in any creative form.

I like the metaphor of the shinbashira—the central pillar of a pagoda’s construction that’s built to be movable, like the flexible spine of the human body. The shinbashira is part of what makes these beautiful, sacred structures earthquake resistant.

I also love the French word for heart, coeur, which is closer to the English word core.

The shift to living each day from a central pillar often follows a life-changing event wherein we’ve been “shaken to the core.” Paradigms reverse and perspectives expand. We become aware of a bigger picture in which we’re part of a living, breathing whole.

Priorities flip. Smaller annoyances shrink in importance as we recommit to the love in our lives (people, places, actions, arts) that make life worth living.

The transition is the tough part. We may find it difficult to calm the mind and heart enough to feel our shinbashira or hear our core truth.  Our faith or trust may appear intermittent as we work at realigning with a new way of being.

The current pandemic is more than an earthquake whose aftershocks we will feel for an indefinite length of time.  It’s the best opportunity we have for contacting our core. We’ve been given the chance to ground in our essential (coeur) intention, one that may hold a surprising, primal message awaiting our discovery.

Photo by Francesco Ungaro from Pexels

You’re invited to subscribe here💜

The Unseen Positive

by Emma Laurence

At my first Minnesota Astronomical Society (MAS) online meeting, I found the request to join without video or sound suitably funny.  Wow, I thought, these guys really do crave darkness! 

Of course, it’s what they discover in the darkness that makes stargazing so engaging.  During the call, I learned where and when to look for the “Golden Handle” on the moon.  The Bay of Rainbows (Sinus Iridum) is a lava-flooded impact basin measuring 162 miles wide and ringed by the Jura Mountains.  When the mountains are illuminated just so, they appear as a bright arc in front of the still darkened bay.

This play of light effect is nicknamed the “Golden Handle,“ and it’s visible once a month, four days before a full moon. Look closely at the photo above and you’ll see a curved feature at the top right, jutting up along the line between light and dark. 

As astrophotographers in the group talked technology and equipment, my mind drifted back to a conversation with a friend over the weekend.  She’d remarked on the common usage of the term “unseen negative.” Then she asked, what about the “unseen positive“?

I began to wonder what hidden forces are at work even now to assist us in our personal missions on earth and to guide us to the best possible future.  We’re in a time of fear, change, and uncertainty.  Is it possible to see what’s right in front of us, working for our benefit?  Or, at the least, trust the unfoldment of an unseen positive?

So much is unseen.  When we face life’s challenges, we can feel like we’re in the dark.  It’s easy to be fearful of an imagined negative outcome.  Pretending to not feel fear is simply a spiritual bypass.  We may want to get around the vulnerability of human emotions, but they will be stored somewhere in the psyche, or the body, if denied.  

So, what about looking more deeply into this metaphorical night sky to gain perspective and awe?  Astronomers know how to do this in a literal sense.  They share the excitement of sightings and photos because their world is a wide-open view to points of light, or heavenly bodies, within the darkness.

If we open the aperture of our heart, though, I’ll bet we can discover the unseen positive. How often have we witnessed surprising support from Life itself simply because we were looking more closely, calmly or widely, with an eye for beauty and grace?

Calm presence embraces fear and beauty, both.  It’s a divine paradox. 

I hope to catch sight of the Bay of Rainbows and the Golden Handle at the end of this month.  The sky, moon, bay and mountains already exist as an unseen, awaiting my astronomy binoculars.  I may feel like I’ve come upon a miracle when I experience it personally. And I may be even further inspired by the vast darkness beyond.

Photo by Peter Lowenstein

You’re invited to subscribe here💜

Uncategorized

What Brings You Joy?

by Emma Laurence

My husband and I anticipated the joy kittens would bring to our home.  The vet was 90% sure our newly adopted cat was pregnant.  And though she couldn’t feel individual kittens, she predicted we’d have a brood in three weeks.

Then, a turn of events.  Our cat began behaving like she was in heat.  Hmmm, we thought.  What about the other 10%?

After a few days of this behavior, we called the vet to chat.  She agreed that she’d misread the swollen belly as pregnancy rather than hormonal build up to estrus.

Isn’t it a curious moment when, having planned for one outcome, Life takes a 180 degree turn?  I felt sad as I disassembled the dream of playfulness, cuteness and laughter filling our home. 

This wasn’t a severe disappointment, but the process seems to be the same for releasing human emotions.  Grief, felt at various depths, eventually gives way to acceptance.  Life does go on.

A younger version of me would have spent a lot of time analyzing the possible reasons—human or divine—for this abrupt change.  I might have wondered how I, and the vet, made such a mistake.  More likely, I’d have questioned what Life was trying to teach me about the build up and dashing of expectations, or about investing in a specific future.

Present-day me moved through that stage quickly.  Instead, I watched images of a future with kittens dissolve.  I didn’t dwell on blame or questions.  I gave thanks for our cat, Zoey, in our lives and let it be.  I let the sadness be, too.

The next day, a wise friend happened to ask, what are you doing right now in your life to bring you joy?  Great question.  I had to admit I wasn’t being proactive.  I was slumping, waiting for something outside me (like a houseful of kittens?) to bring me joy. 

She then shared a technique she invented to practice wellness.  She makes a list of things that her bring joy and does one an hour.  It might be as simple as listening to a particular song, or making soup, or journaling.

I loved this idea and started right away doing small things to inspire joy.  I drove by the llama farm to catch a glimpse of the newborns, took a walk in the sunlight, and listened to “Gabriel’s Oboe” performed by Henrik Chaim Goldschmidt.                        

Soon, I felt much lighter.

Now, I don’t expect to live in a joyful place all the time.  I don’t even believe that’s the goal.  But I do need a balance in tough times. 

I wonder, what might make your list?

Joy lives inside us.  Though prompted by people, animals, places or things, the qualitative experience we call joy is inward.  It’s our choice when to reach for that ever-present state and how to prompt an opening heart. 

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

You’re invited to subscribe here💜

Uncategorized

When Life Brings More Than You Expect!

by Emma Laurence

Meet Zoey.  We adopted her a month ago after my husband spotted her picture in an online listing. I was making breakfast one morning when I heard him say Oh…in that two-tone descending pitch that means someone just stole my heart.  I stepped over to peer at his laptop screen as soon as I could leave the stove.

Oh, my… Yep, that’s her, I thought, as we read Zoey’s story.  She looked intelligent, petite and sweet.  She was just under a year old; the owners were moving and had to rehome her asap. 

We’d been scanning photos for months, during which time we’d met two cats that were not a match.  We wondered when our cat (or small dog) would appear.  That afternoon, honoring social distancing with the humans, we picked Zoey up and brought her home. 

Zoey needed a few days to get used to us, but she never hid in fear.  She loved the sliding glass doors to the backyard and the many windows of our townhome.  We played laser light tag with her and provided plenty of space/time to adjust.  After a few weeks, she made a habit of jumping onto my lap every time I sat on the couch.

Then an unexpected development unfolded.  I had occasion to lift Zoey off a forbidden piece of furniture when I noticed she seemed heavier than before.  She’d been eating plenty in the transition from dry to canned food.  Yet she carried this extra weight in her lower belly, and I got the distinct impression she was pregnant. 

I texted the previous owner, is it even possible that… was she perhaps in contact with…?  Answers came back with a sincere apology.  Yes, it was “possible.”  There had been a male cat in the household at one time, but they’d had no idea.  Did we want help finding a new home, or did we want to return her? 

Nope.  We just wanted to know whether to follow through.

With the current pandemic, Dr. Ricci was only seeing urgent cases, but she agreed to an office visit so we could confirm.  While she couldn’t feel individual kittens yet, she was 90% sure we’d have a houseful in three weeks.

Oh, what a perfect spiritual set up.  From the moment we laid eyes on Zoey, we knew she was part of our family.  We just didn’t know she’d bring a whole family with her! And though we didn’t ask for kittens (as my brother-in-law said, say goodbye to 2am), we’re excited.  It’s an ideal time for hilarity and joy that we could never have planned.

Zoey expands our hearts’ capacity and stretches our ability to flow with life’s unexpected surprises.  Life will have Its way.  True and wise abundance brings gifts in all forms that we can trust are just right for us, right now. 

You’re invited to subscribe here💜

Uncategorized

Lie Low to the Wall

by Emma Laurence

The deep and far-reaching impact of our planet’s pandemic drove itself into my mind and emotions these last two weeks—boring holes into old traumatic tissue. 

Have you ever experienced a kind of loneliness in which you crave compassion?

I simply wanted to know that another human being, at any point in history, experienced a similar suffering.  During this painful process, I sought uplifting, comforting words. 

As often happens, Life provided an unexpected gift.  A poem by John O’Donohue, 20th century Irish poet, philosopher, priest, and Celtic spiritualist, entered my email box via someone I don’t even know.  It read:

This is the time to be slow,
Lie low to the wall
Until the bitter weather passes.

Try, as best you can, not to let
The wire brush of doubt
Scrape from your heart
All sense of yourself
And your hesitant light.

If you remain generous,
Time will come good;
And you will find your feet
Again on fresh pastures of promise
Where the air will be kind
And blushed with beginning.

These words shook my world with profound relief.  They gave me permission to lie low, arrested my heart-scraping self-talk, allowed me to remember who I am, and invited me to accept my own hesitant light.  They supported my generosity. 

I remembered the feeling of new beginnings, fresh air, hope and promise.

Shortly thereafter, pressures lightened a bit.  I found myself able to enjoy cleaning my home, something I’d previously had no motivation to do.  I rearranged my office, cleared my desk, and finally put up the acupressure poster that had lain curled up in a corner. 

I slowly began to release torturous self-judgments and to re-engage what I believe to be true—that everything is happening just the way it should. 

It’s essential to note that tending tasks was now done very, very slowly.  I moved in slow motion, breathing deeply as I worked, paying attention to my body, surrendering the need to think, letting the emotions rest. 

In essence, I was lying low to the wall and in gentle motion, at the same time. 

I’m finding this way of “working” so pleasurable.  It is low stress and invites ease.  It’s inclusive and accepting.  It feels both effortless and fulfilling.

While I, like many who want to serve in these times, may not know what steps to take to be more available and helpful, there is an ever-so-slight fragrance in the air, as if a sweetness is coming soon.

I welcome the changes we’re creating, even now, to unite us in new ways for the good of all. Many kindnesses will rebuild the fabric of our community in bolder colors. 

I choose to embrace the new harmonic resonance that’s calling us to be the best we can, to do the best we can, and to love the gift of life, truly.

photo by Pixabay

You’re invited to subscribe here💜