We’ve lost connection. I know many of us feel it and want it back. Widespread feelings of loneliness are a reflection of this rupture in our culture. We are shaped for closeness and intimacy with all of life, our surroundings, ourselves and each other. Ideally, we are capable of being authentic and sharing our gifts with the world, knowing we belong and being part of life matters.
We each need attention and affection for this kind of embodied exchange to be fostered and the time is now. Sharing in rituals of care and connection provide this deep well of love in life by offering context and courage, dynamism and genuine expression as we develop across our lifespan. This is all fundamental in my mind because we are required to adapt, integrate and honor, sit with fear and confusion, passion and purpose, joy and pain in order to truly become ourselves. My hands on bodywork has brought much of this understanding forward and continues to inform me.
We belong to life. I love knowing this. We are a vital, highly consequential part of life on earth. I think as a culture we may have forgotten how beautiful it is to belong to this incredible earth, to time and place. I am thankful I am starting to remember.
Funny how life guides us. As I’ve grown into myself as a mother I have come to value more freedom and choice trusting my daughter and myself more and learning to really listen. As audiologist Gordon Hempton says it so well, “listening is a form of worship.”This simple act attaches us to each other, brings forth our love and loyalty and allows us to be seen and heard.
I love to go, drive, and run since my internal generator has much steam to burn. I have always been slightly proud of this aspect of myself however more recently, especially with the death of my mama have come to honor the need for deep rest. As my mother prepared to die, she slept better than she had in decades. Beauty and pleasure allow rest as well. Being in nature, knowing her cycles and tuning in for their show also provides the revitalization we need. Receiving, witnessing, sharing and just being with another person can calm us down, opens our hearts and refreshes our perspective. Sitting vigil with my mom I was able to listen and witness my mom’s life as the gift it was. Grief became gratitude and grief and gratitude each being compost for the richness in our lives.
Becoming a death doula in 2020 has continued to keep me very curious asking how loss and death feed life? Is there a way to live fully knowing, really understanding the impermanence of it all without giving up our big magnificent hearts in the midst of the myriad changes? In high school my mom would often tell me,”the sun always rises tomorrow” when I was struggling. I thought about this a lot after her death and when she became that literal sunshine for me, powering and warming my life in new ways. I welcome the exploration inherent in life and truly love sharing my gifts as they emerge with you. Let’s make this a beautiful place to be, together while we’re here.
