1. I've discovered that many of you have not been able to add a comment to a post. In fact, I haven't been able to reply to comments that have been successfully posted. Apparently, this is not just a problem for my blog, but many others, as well. I have been told the problem is being addressed. We'll see! In the meantime, my apologies and my thanks for reading my blog.
2. Many of you know that both our grandaughter Maren and our daughter Kate have had surgery this week. Maren's surgery on her foot was scheduled for Tuesday morning, but a clinic snafu postponed it to this morning. In fact, she is having surgery as I write this. She will be home later today. Kate had surgery yesterday for swallowing issues and what was intended to be a 4-5 hour surgery turned into eight hours. It went well, but was more complicated than anticipated. She won't be home for a few days. Mike is a busy loving father and husband! Bruce and I feel blessed to live close-by and to be able to respond to whatever is needed. Thanks for all your prayers and good wishes.
Now....here's today's post.
On Tuesday, January 14, I described the collage I made, hoping it would reveal my word of the year. I hoped (expected?) that when I completed the collage the word would magically reverberate in my mind and heart. Well, that didn't happen.
Some of you suggested words for me to consider--and what good words they are.
Flow
Vibrance
Resonance
Bridge
Connection
Before making the collage on Sunday, I wondered if my word was "unknown," for I entered the new year with a sense of unknowing. I think Kate and Maren's surgeries were driving that, but, also, the fact that I had not worked on my memoir all of November and December, and I was uncertain about re-entering that process. Much of December I had the flu and as I recovered, I admit I enjoyed the slower pace, the open space for reading and doing not much of anything. Was it time to pull back from some of my activities and plans? Was it time to settle into a life with fewer involvements?
During my morning meditation time soon after making the collage, I wrote in my journal about what I saw in the collage--vibrant color, richness, movement, variety. I wrote,
I don't think the variety is a distraction from
any one thing I am supposed to do. I attend to
my relationships and am grateful for the wide
circle of friends and family in my life. I am
not someone who flits from one thing to another.
I complete my tasks, my projects. Generally.
Variety speaks to my interests, to opportunities
that keep appearing, to a real fullness in my life
right now.
Fullness
That's it. I knew it in a flash. Fullness is my word for 2020.
Living with fullness does not mean rushing around and filling every minute with activity nor doing everything I have done in the past or am currently doing. Instead, I think it means living with a sense of abundance and awareness of the richness in my life. In order to do that, I need to be aware of when I feel overwhelmed or more drained than energized. Discernment is still necessary. Staying awake to the sacred in my life is key.
Note the presence of an empty bench in the collage--a reminder to maintain space for stillness. In this case the blank page in my journal led me to "fullness."
When we arrive at where we're supposed
to be in life--where we know that we have
finally come home to the fullness of ourselves--
there will be no desire to leave it, only the need
to plumb it.
Joan Chittister
The Art of Life
An Invitation
Is any word whispering to you? I would love to know.
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