Tag: renewal

Good Friday

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Dear Readers,

I started this blog in the summer of 2018, and I have written at least one short post practically every single day since then. However, every Easter weekend, I take the weekend off from writing on the blog. I consider Easter to be my annual reset button. Easter represents hope, and renewal, and fresh growth and life, like no other time of the year does for me. It is a reflective time for me. And taking this time off from writing has been a tradition that serves me well, even when I still feel the (sometimes even fervent) urge to write.

As always, thank you for being here, reading and supporting the blog with your time, understanding, love and comments. This blog is sacred to me, and you, my readers, are a vital part of that sacredness. Thank you. I love you.

I will be back on Monday. Sending blessings your way!

“Every day is a renewal, every morning the daily miracle. This joy you feel is life.” – Gertrude Stein

“God uses broken things. It takes broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to give rain, broken grain to give bread, broken bread to give strength. It is the broken alabaster box that gives forth perfume. It is Peter, weeping bitterly, who returns to greater power than ever.” – Vance Havner

“The cyclone ends. The sun returns; the lofty coconut trees lift up their plumes again; man does likewise. The great anguish is over; joy has returned; the sea smiles like a child.” – Paul Gauguin

“There is in us an instinct for newness, for renewal, for a liberation of creative power. We seek to awaken in ourselves a force which really changes our lives from within. And yet the same instinct tells us that this change is a recovery of that which is deepest, most original, most personal in ourselves. To be born again is not to become somebody else, but to become ourselves.” – Thomas Merton

Restoration

How many of us are getting a little “burnt out”? I want this blog to be a place of positivism and respite, as it is one of my precious creations. I want it to be a healing, soothing place. This blog has been formed out the deepest, most loving, most connected, part of myself. But, I also want it to be “real.” I’ve noticed that a lot of my friends, family and acquaintances, and most definitely myself included, are getting a little frayed around the edges these days, even the ones of us, who have had the privilege of getting haircuts again. Some of us are developing signs of stress in our bodies with rashes, infections, mysterious aches and pains, and sleep issues. Some of us, are just a little more tired and edgy and cranky and sad. This morning, I saw that even one of my favorite astrologers, a strong woman who often seems to be spiritually “other-worldly”, has decided to take a month off from writing her weekly column, a publication which she has been writing endlessly, for over 50 years.

We’ve all had quite a bit of stress in the last few months, individually and collectively. It’s a lot to take in. It’s okay to say, “I need a rest. I need a break. I need to recharge.”

When your thoughts come into your head, notice them, but say, “Hey guys, I’m going to let you pass through without giving you any more energy or contemplation. My mind needs a break. I’m a little depleted.”

When your emotions come in, by way of waves, storms, fire pits, tornadoes, volcanoes or just a sprinkling of constant rain, feel the feels, but then say, “Hey guys, I’m going let you pass through without giving you any more energy or contemplation. My heart needs a break. I’m a little depleted.”

When your body starts whispering to you or screaming to you, giving you signs that your body is carrying your unacknowledged stress, don’t push your body. Nurture it. Nurture your body with rest, with wholesome nutrition, and with exercise that is reviving, not punishing. Say to yourself, “Body, I respect you. You are the vehicle that helps me to experience my life. I understand that you need a break. You are a little depleted.”

Today, let’s give ourselves a chance to rest and to recharge. Let’s not create artificial deadlines that tax our minds, and hurt our bodies and dampen our spirits. We humans are sensitive, sensual beings. Our senses have been barraged these last few months. It’s been an overload for most of us.

Today is a good day to “just be.” Imagine yourself plugged into your Source, the entire day, for charging. That’s all you have to do. Go about your life quietly, today, and keep the cord plugged in. Un-kink the hose, so that the Source energy can flow through you, and heal you. Follow your impulses that feel right and kind, from the deepest, most peaceful, most loving part of yourself. Follow your intuition about the self-care that you need today. If you get quiet, aware and honest with yourself, your current needs will become abundantly apparent to you. Give yourself the gift of honoring those needs. Bathe and exhilarate in your innate ability to restore, refresh and renew, yourself.

30 Self-Care Quotes That Inspire Us - Take Care of Yourself Quotes

Refreshed and Renewed

I’m baaaack! This past weekend is the first weekend that I took off from writing my blog since I started writing it back in July 2018. It felt strange. I automatically sat down to my computer Saturday morning, but then laughed at myself and forced myself to get back up and to do something different. What I learned from this little experiment of mine, was priceless. I missed writing my blog. I missed my readers. A lot.

Sometimes, we fall into patterns and habits and schedules and we wonder how we even ended up in certain “ruts.” I think that I was afraid my writing had become rote to me and to you. But what I learned is, that this writing is necessary for me right now. It is a passion for me. It makes me feel more alive. It is not a habit, but now, almost a necessity for me. It has become part of my breath of life.

This past weekend was a little emotional for me, for many reasons. One of the biggest reasons, was that for the first time, I didn’t celebrate Easter with our six-person nucleus family. My eldest son lives in a different state now and luckily, he was able to spend the holiday with family members and even had other offers for celebrations, that he had to turn down. So he was fine and the rest of us were all together, so we were fine, but it was one of those acute moments of understanding how much our family life is changing and how much it will change, in the years to come.

Building up to Easter, is when my emotions were escalating. I bought so much candy for our kids’ Easter baskets, that the checker asked me if we were having a party. I had to put it on two credit cards. (okay, the credit card part isn’t true, but the first statement IS, pathetically, true) I was obviously in overcompensation mode. The funny thing is though, when Easter rolled around, I felt good. I felt calm. I felt peaceful. I felt hopeful. I felt the promise of the holiday.

Thank you for your understanding my need for a break. Thank you for still coming by to read past posts. (I see the stats.) I hope that whatever your traditions and beliefs are, that you were able to celebrate a beautiful spring weekend with people who you love. I hope that you feel refreshed and renewed. I do. And it feels good.