NOVEMBER
Better Late than Never?
It may be the last day of November but that is still fair game in my book.
Here is what I listened to this November. It’s the Perfect playlist for a stroll through the golden-ing trees or a quaint gathering amongst friends.
Three things you shouldn’t underestimate
Don’t underestimate the power of your gaze. After all, where your focus goes, your energy flows. Be mindful of your attention and the value of what occupies it.
2. Don’t underestimate the power of “I love you”. Even if the words have been tainted or dulled or repeated. Return to the essence of this phrase. Breathe life and power back into them, then direct them meaningfully.
3. Don’t underestimate the power of a phone call.There is magic in a voice, a tone, a laugh, and a shared moment…even if you are cities apart.
Are you finding that there is a certain grief that lingers in you? A grief over a change, which resulted in a loss? you may find that the changes are seemingly undeserving of full grief and mourning. That very well may be. Nevertheless, we must actively engage in ceremony to release and invite. Our Heads may acknowledge the logic in a situation and compartmentalize emotions but our bodies and hearts may not be on the same page. We need to usher our full selves: Mind, body and soul, into the shifting tides of our lives. It need not require tragedy or trauma to engage in a ceremonial recognition of grief and loss.
Invitation to ceremony of Change
Light your favorite candle or incense
Grab a journal
Turn on music that is soft or nostalgic
Roll out your yoga mat or spread a blanket out on the floor
Find the most comfortable seated position where your spine is long and shoulders are back.
Close your eyes and take 10 deep breathes
Direct your attention to a blank page and write down 3 notable changes that have happened in your life this year so far. Now write down the losses that those changes have incurred.
Take 10 more deep breathes.
Now write down the benefits those changes have incurred, no matter how small they may be.
Read the full page and remain open to the full narrative that is painted on the page.
Close your eyes and remain in silence until you are ready to get up and walk away.
This Month we return home.
Some find solace in the home they have created while some are reminded of the future home they strive to create for themselves and others do not feel at home, but, as they say, home is where the heart is.
Where is your heart this November?
Is it in the far off places of your potential home or is it right here, gulping up every moment, enlivened by the present possibility? Neither one is right or wrong but the first will forever exist just outside your reach while the latter offers promise now. You don’t have to dismiss the former in order to experience the latter but deeming the former is more valuable negates the latter.
So then what will you choose this season? What will you choose to deem valuable? That which is valued, is inextricably tied to that feeling of home.
When was the last time you felt the rest that can only be described as “home”? Who was apart of that? What were the surrounding elements? What were the inward elements? Can you, in the vast expanse of your memory, recall those factors that contributed to this all-consuming experience we call “home”.
Home is more than four walls. More than geographical location. and More than any one factor can identify. Never mistake home as, simply, a physical space. It is an experience, a mingling of elements and an interaction of both body and mind.
You bring the tools and materials to build the metaphorical walls of this reality. So, What are you bringing to the equation this year? Is the load heavy? Find the space to unload. Is your heart light? Find intention to bear another's burdens.
Pick up the tools and start building where you are. You might find that idealistic idea of home to be a little closer than you once dreamed.
Enjoy the lasting glimmer of Autumn!
