I rise the same time. The sun rises later. Summer is meandering towards its end in my neighborhood. Autumn is whispering to the leaves “I’m here. Are you ready?” photo by anne richardson.
Seeking Stillness Amid the Pandemic
Cricket songs offer me a nightly symphony, a sure sign autumn has arrived even as we are set for a hot spell the next week in my Pacific NW neighborhood. Being awash in their chirps grounds me. Brings me back into my body as I sit and breath in and out their consistent thrum, listening for other night noises. It is usually the hum of cars passing by or a drift of conversation from a neighbor, but, occasionally I can hear a tree branch yawing upward toward the moon or flapping wings of a bird out past curfew.
Noticing Transitions. Crossing Thresholds.
Autumn as a season has resonated with me as a “favorite” for years. Perhaps it is because the first threshold I crossed as I left the wet womb and entered the world was in September. Or maybe it is the turning colors, lengthening nights, donning of sweaters, blankets on beds, cooler morning air. It shouts “transition” to me, though each season is ripe with transitions. Rife with threshold…both metaphorically and literally. Still, it is autumn that gathers me in like a harvest, bringing me inside to sit in stillness. To savor the fruits and vegetables that transitioned from bud to flower and grew over the last six months into something to nourish my body. Autumn is when my heart for gratitude expands even wider. And, lest I forget, there is always a tinge of grief in saying goodbye to the full-palette colors of summer.
Hillsdale Farmers’ Market, 2019, photo by anne richardson
Pandemic Shifts Perspectives-Individually and Collectively
In March, we collectively stepped over the threshold called “Covid-19” which morphed into a pandemic. It has invited me to reflect on new transitions in my life and go back and consider others. This time last year I was still disoriented from my sojourn to my ancestral homeland in Spring of 2019. The pandemic came into being at the time I had recently settled into a new understanding of what I thought my call would be going forward. It wasn’t the best timing. But then, was it for anyone?
“You find a place to sit,
spine cradled by hazel branches
and finally rest arrives.
The grief you didn’t even know was there
breaks the banks within, so carefully built,
and you discover a river inside you.
Then follows the sweet stillness
when you gather your strength for what is to come...”
Taking Time For Reflection
The last six months have been a time of reevaluation. Unsettling. Disorienting…again. Feeling like I am once again on a pilgrimage. Perhaps that sounds familiar to you. Or perhaps you are simply wanting to take time to reflect on what this time of transition means to you. Maybe you crossed this threshold with openness. Or resistance. Much of it is outside of your control. A place to ponder and rest would be welcome.
Invitation: Recognizing & Honoring Life Transitions Workshop
Last April I cancelled my “Recognizing and Honoring Life Transitions” workshop due to Covid-19 restrictions. This popular workshop has been a space for participants to reflect on a transition that is meaningful to them, to give it “a voice.” Though we still can’t meet in person, I have modified this workshop for the online world and am offering it Saturday, September 12th from 1:30-4:30 PST. I still have a few spaces left. Would you like to join me? I would be honored to have you meet me in this threshold space. To reflect on how the pandemic or other unfolding events of 2020 are transitional for you, if that is where you feel drawn. (Please check first to make sure there is available space before registering.)
Here are a few details:
In this workshop, you’ll be introduced to the archetype of the labyrinth as a tool to reflect on your life transitions in combination with written expression. No writing experience is necessary to participate! You’ll receive a downloadable paper labyrinth as part of your registration packet for the “walking” portion of the workshop. This workshop is in partnership with Portland Women Writers (http://pdxwomenwriters.com/) and is for women or those who identify female. Workshop is limited to 8 participants.
Workshop is three hours and online via Zoom.
Maximum number of participants is eight.
Workshops are set up to be a gentle, non-judgmental space for sharing, or not sharing, what you are writing, feeling, and experiencing. Guidelines are offered at the start of each workshop to create our sharing container.
Self-care is always affirmed and taking time to move, breathe and stretch during workshops is encouraged.
Cost - $50.00 (Please let me know if you need a reduced rate. I recognize these are difficult times financially for many folks.)
For questions please send me an email.
My Mentor Grief Says: Be Still
These lengthening evenings as I listen to the crickets, I read poetry and books that leave me yearning to take long treks. To place my feet upon my ancestral land again. The part of me that longs to be on an external pilgrimage knows this is not the time. My Mentor, Grief has made that clear. That I have to be still here a while longer.
And so I float in a dory on an interior lake within that is calm, for the most part, though it roils from time to time. I let the oars lay still and try not to steer. Waiting to see where this transition will lead. In the meantime, I am grateful for the crickets’ song and tree branches that yawn at night, stretching into my dreams.
A Sweet Success to Share
As you may know, I am a poet. I have been submitting some of my “babies” the last six months and one, Sweet Honey, was accepted by Tiny Seed Journal. Tiny Seed is nature focused…so you can see why it makes my heart sing. Enjoy!
