Good morning lovely friends

So healing and grace-ful to be here with you. Life has been happening and I have not had the time or the energy to visit this past week. But, it is an eventful Monday morning for me and I find that I need the courage that I always receive from this sacred community. My anxiety has washed over me like a tidal wave and I am trying to remember to accept it and let it be…but I also am desperate for it to leave! Not surprisingly, my fibromyalgia pain is at peak levels and my tinnitus is especially irritating.

My daughter is moving into her apartment in the “big city” tonight and I have all the emotions. I won’t go into the entire litany of crazy anxious and fearful thoughts that are playing in a loop in my brain (especially at night when I am desperate for restorative sleep). Suffice to say that I would appreciate your prayers and am grateful for the love and compassion that is always waiting for me here.

So lovely to read all your posts of the last few days and I hope to respond (and welcome new friends!) soon.

~With grateful love…blessings to you all.

Good evening lovely people:

What an eventful day to share with all of you. At first glance, it may seem rather mundane, but to me it was filled with meaning and unexpected happenings. Let me start by saying that my energy tank has been running on empty lately. I think there are many reasons for this….I haven’t been very active because of the weather and basically have been feeling like a slug. I miss my walks! Also…the weather itself. Although I am happy that I am experiencing the cold more positively on an emotional and spiritual level, the physical effects on my fibromyalgia are still very much with me. And then, of course, there is the effect of my old friend anxiety which has taken up permanent residence in my “guest house” (as Rumi would say) since my daughter has moved out of our farmhouse and into NYC…a place that scares the you-know-what out of me!
So…..imagine my surprise that I was able to join in with my daughter on an all-day shopping extravaganza today! We hopped from place to place buying things for her new apartment and for school….we were “out and about” for about 6 hours!!! Seriously, this is unheard of for me….usually after an hour or 2 of shopping (I am so NOT a shopper!) I dissolve into a messy puddle. My daughters are like me and are typically totally exhausted by the shopping experience. (I often tell my husband how lucky he is that he has 3 women in his life and none of them like to shop!). Anyway….we had a wonderful time together, got her some fun things for her new apartment, and practical things for her graduate studies, and neither of us are puddles! This is a minor miracle…haha. 🙂 We both arrived home tired but so tickled by the experience….everything we bought was either on sale or we had a coupon! And we had a nice lunch together in a cute little cafe nearby the stores we were visiting.

I am so grateful for the memories of this fun day with my daughter. And still I have the energy (and the brain power) to share this with all of you.

~Sending wishes for delightful surprises in the days ahead for all of you dear friends. 🙂

Good morning lovely people

As per usual, I type this with a candle beside me…giving off its flickering light and filling the air with its lovely aroma. I am thankful for the gift of smell. I have always had a keen sense of smell…I think perhaps it is making up for my near-sightedness?! And I have a visceral response to smells…. aromatherapy has been an important “tool in my toolbox” for dealing with chronic illness and anxiety. My daughters gift candles to me often and I have had the joy of visiting lavender farms and fairs with both of them. I have a lovely bouquet of dried lavender that I purchased during these visits…it is sitting in a vase on my nightstand and, in addition to providing a soothing aroma, it brings sweet memories of special times with my daughters. I am grateful for candles, for lavender, for my essential oils diffuser, for the smell of the Sunday afternoon homemade turkey-noodle soup that I made yesterday. The smell of firewood from our kitchen’s wood burning stove as I cooked. The healing power of smells. Therapy indeed!

I am grateful for the ways in which God is leading and guiding our youngest daughter as she prepares for her latest adventure….she starts grad school in NYC this month. My husband found her a “recycled” IKEA bed and yesterday they ventured into the city to pick it up and transport it to her new apartment. I found lovely “botanical design” flannel sheets on sale at a nearby store and they took them along. My husband reassembled the bed for her and they made up the bed with the freshly laundered cozy flannel sheets. This made my mom heart really happy…to know that in her new apartment bedroom, she has a comfy bed waiting for her when she moves in next week. I am grateful that she was led to this graduate program and to this adorable apartment in a safe neighborhood with delightful roommates. It is all grace.

Grateful for the day ahead of me with nowhere that I have to be and nothing that I have to do…except be fully present in each moment.

~Blessings for a peace-filled day my friends

Good morning Lauren…I am catching up a bit after not being here for a few days. Welcome to this sacred community and thank you for sharing this lovely picture and quote…..we indeed help each other here to embrace gratitude in our “perfectly imperfect messy but impeccably beautiful” journeys!

Kindred spirits are we…..living with chronic pain, frigid winter weather, and children who have gone off on their own adventures. Thank you for sharing…I am learning that we all have the capacity to be “wounded healers” when we have the courage to be vulnerable with an open and caring heart.

~Much love to you on this cold but miraculous new day. 🙂

Good morning dear Aine.

Well….I did not literally have a cup of hot cocoa yesterday but your words were so soothing and healing …it was as if I did! Thank you for sharing your heart with me and reminding me to practice self care….and to accept the anxiety as a blessing. Such wisdom my friend. “Love is expressed in many forms” a powerful truth. And one that I needed to hear.
I felt your prayers and those of our other kindred spirits here in this sacred community. I am so very grateful.

My husband moved Cassie into her apartment last night and she will wake up this morning to a new chapter in her young life. I have summoned the angels to surround her and know that she is exactly where she is supposed to be. As for me…it is a weird morning so far. I am here alone and my intention is to practice self-care by embracing the solitude, the emotions, the melancholy, the blessings that are always before me. Even the anxiety!

Even though my muscles are aching…I was gifted with a good sleep last night and I have a deep-tissue massage scheduled for tomorrow. Today I shall have a hot shower, try to eat healthier than the stress-eating I did yesterday, continue watching The Crown on Netflix, and have that cup of hot cocoa! With a big dollop of whipped cream on top. 🙂

~Much love to you with a grateful heart my friend.

Good morning grateful sea: Thank you for your kind words and for your prayers. My day yesterday was indeed “full”! And today a new day and a new chapter in our journeys has begun for both me and my daughter.

It has been a frigid winter here in the Northeast and I have been reminded lately of Narnia! So much so that I decided to read “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” again! It was so delightful for me to read it….a favorite of both my daughters! I mention this because there is a quote from it that I copied and have displayed in my kitchen:

” Let us go on and take the adventure that shall fall to us.”

And so my daughter and I go on in our adventures…such a positive and fun way to express this change for us both. I do believe that she is exactly where she is supposed to be right now…..today my grateful heart is catching up with my anxious mind and peace is settling in.

~So grateful to be here with you this morning dear friend. I hope you have a day filled with love and light….and maybe even an adventure!

Dear Ose…thank you for your prayers and for your lovely blessing. The emotions were indeed like a “flood”….they took me over and carried me along. I felt helpless to stop them so I tried to honor them and give them expression. This morning I do feel embraced. By all of you and by the Divine. The “Word of the Day” from Julian of Norwich was a gift and a grace to me.

So grateful for this sacred space and for the love and compassion that is always waiting for me here.

~Have a blessed day Ose

Dear Ricardo: My daughter has recently begun a new adventure in NYC! She will be living in Brooklyn as she attends NYU for graduate school. I am not a city person (I live on farmland with horses and cows!) so.it will be an adventure for me to visit her, which of course I will, no matter my aversion to crowds and traffic and noise. I am looking forward to creating new and different memories with her there when I do venture into the city!
And I want to add my condolences to the other lovely souls here….I know how hard it is to say goodbye to our beloved pets. We have been through this passage many times over the years…we always had a house filled with animals when our daughters were growing up and our current lovable rescue mutt Wesley is showing signs that it is almost time for him to join the spirit world.

~Sending you wishes for comfort and peace during this time.

Aine…..what a gift to the Universe your blog will be. I am so very excited for you to begin this new adventure. I understand the anxious thoughts and feelings that accompany this unexplored territory for you….but if it helps at all I have complete confidence that your blog, and your articles, will be a grace to those who read them. I am with Pilgrim, if you feel comfortable, I would love to be one of those readers when you are ready!
Congratulations my friend on receiving this honor…..I will light a candle for you as you prepare!
~Blessings and love

Aine….my husband worked from home last week due to weather. It was such a comfort and a relief for my anxious self to have him home safe and sound yet still able to put in a day’s work! It is a grace.

Warmer weather (all the way up to the 30’s and 40’s) in the forecast here as well…but some freezing rain at night. I’m grateful my daughter does not have to work at all this week…no driving home late at night! In fact, this weekend was her last at the restaurant before starting grad school.

~Sending warm wishes for a lovely day with your husband

Wow Cintia…..This past week I have had a similar laundry issue! My washing machine is not broken but I ran out of laundry detergent and didn’t want to leave my cozy warm house to brave the cold and go buy some! So the laundry pile kept growing throughout the week…it was a very big pile by the time I finally ventured out just yesterday!
Oh boy…..the things we take for granted, like clean clothes and the means to wash them! I am inspired by your cleverness and willingness to wash your clothes by hand! And with a smile on your face! 🙂

Thank you Manda….our daughter is still here at home with us for another week or so. We are in the process of trying to find her a bed for her new apartment. 🙂 She and I will probably take another trip into the city this coming week with another car full…she is going through all the boxes that we have been storing since she graduated college and moved out of her dorm 2 years ago.

I love the idea of “dancing in the forest” but it is way too cold here right now! I miss going on my walks down Rainbow Hill Road to visit with the horses. No end in sight for us….with the wind chill our temps are below zero. It is dangerously cold and I am content to stay inside by the fire these days and view the magical trees from our sun-room! 🙂

~Hygge blessings Manda!

Dear Niels
I enjoyed reading this article…thank you for sharing it! I am a lover of words (my 2 favorites being “serendipity” and “equanimity”) and found the etymology of Leah’s naming of Judah fascinating….sad that it was lost in the translation to English.

I’ve always been touched by the Genesis story of Leah…the less loved sister/wife and how God, in His compassion, blessed her so abundantly as a mother.

~Blessings

Dear grateful sea…thank you for sharing with me. In our mutual gratefulness for all things warm and cozy in this wild weather. And in our mutual love of libraries. 🙂
I am intrigued by the book you mentioned……poetry keeps popping up in my life lately and I am learning to pay attention when that happens! I will be sure to request it when I visit my library next week….I too have some books to return. And am in need of a new pile to check out!

~Blessings and a warm hug right back to you my friend.