Anne Richardson

August 30, 2021

Ambiguous Loss, Covid-19, Gratitude, Grief, Grief and Loss, Grief and Loss Workshops, Healing, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Poetry, Seasons, spiriutal companionship, Trauma, Workshops

Lessons from the Pandemic: You Cannot Fail at Grief

Anne Richardson

August 30, 2021

Ambiguous Loss, Covid-19, Gratitude, Grief, Grief and Loss, Grief and Loss Workshops, Healing, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Poetry, Seasons, spiriutal companionship, Trauma, Workshops

They are back! Crickets’ evening chirping filling every crevice of air from twilight to well after moonrise. Softening as night deepens. It soothes me. The heat of summer has waned for now and fans are off. The constant whirl of blades and the clicking on/off of my portable A/C (to which I offer copious gratitude) entered my inner world as invader not kin. The return of the crickets offers a reminder. Reminder that this long, hot, dry season is moving forward toward autumn, my favorite season.

The unfolding of seasonal change. The monthly moon cycle. Visiting the Oregon Coast and watching the daily ebb and flow of the tide. This is the medicine I need—the reminder that time continues to weave a story beyond my own. Nature helps me step outside my story. Shift perspectives. Return to gratitude. I didn’t realize how much I needed that reminder.

Anne Richardson

March 26, 2021

Covid-19, Grief and Loss, Grief and Loss Workshops, Healing, Lament, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Seasons, Winter, Workshops, Hope

Lessons from the Pandemic: What Does Hope Look Like These Days?

Anne Richardson

March 26, 2021

Covid-19, Grief and Loss, Grief and Loss Workshops, Healing, Lament, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Seasons, Winter, Workshops, Hope

In the Pacific NW come February, early March, we get our annual spring preview. Clouds practice social distancing, the Sun teases us with a splash of warmth and we shed at least one sweater layer as light streaks through the blue expanse. Some even brave laying on the grass—arms, feet and legs exposed. Sure, it will be below freezing in a few days, but the reprieve is luscious. The trees know it is temporary and keep bud tips closed except for the cherries. Their vulnerability is our delight. Sure enough, the rain returns with a winter bite. But the first rain after “preview” offers a promise. As I step out my door and inhale, the aroma of daffodil and daphne odora saturates the air. It is a shift from a winter rain, reminding me of when Grief makes that shift from deep, early loss. The pungent scent has traveled in the droplets. Little Hope sacs splashing at my feet.

Anne Richardson

November 25, 2020

Gratitude, Grief, Grief and Loss, Grief and Loss Workshops, Mother Ocean, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Poetry, Workshops, Lament

Lessons from the Pandemic: Lamenting & Gratitude Arise Out of the Same Heart

Anne Richardson

November 25, 2020

Gratitude, Grief, Grief and Loss, Grief and Loss Workshops, Mother Ocean, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Poetry, Workshops, Lament

I love this time of year. The Winter Solstice arriving in less than a month in the Northern Hemisphere. Long nights sometimes crisp with stars and haloed moon. At other times heavy and dangerous in fog. Layers of clothing donned for outings…or even to work at home, cocoon me. Bare-limbed trees holding empty nests seem vulnerable. Low-sky sun barely warms Earth.

The other day when I began my pre-dawn ritual, readying for a walk, I checked in with my body, and it asked ever so sweetly if it could crawl back beneath the covers and rest. A mini-hibernation. My morning walks are part exercise and part meditation, so I am reluctant to miss them. The morning wasn’t rain-soaking or freezing or blustery—a ready excuse. Actually, it would have offered a seductive sunrise. I didn’t argue though. I listened, hibernated, drifting into my imaginal world if only for two extra hours.

Anne Richardson

October 28, 2020

Abundance, Belonging, Breathing, Covid-19, Gratitude, Grief, Grief and Loss, Healing, Life Transitions, Stillness, Pandemic, Pilgrimage, My Mentor Grief, spiriutal companionship, Workshops

Lessons from the Pandemic: Being with Stillness is Expansive

Anne Richardson

October 28, 2020

Abundance, Belonging, Breathing, Covid-19, Gratitude, Grief, Grief and Loss, Healing, Life Transitions, Stillness, Pandemic, Pilgrimage, My Mentor Grief, spiriutal companionship, Workshops

I am meeting an old friend this week. It has been over seven months since we last connected. I can’t wait until we embrace. AND I am not going to wear a mask! Are you concerned I’ve lost my bearings eight months into the pandemic living in a country where COVID is on the rise?

The friend? The pool where I went lap swimming four, five days a week until mid-March when public facilities were closed. These places of gathering becoming a risk factor that could be controlled while information about the virus was gathered. The facility now allows 45-minute slots to swim, only two people allowed in our three-lane pool at a time—one empty lane between us. I was able to snag four rendezvous over the next two weeks. I am giddy with excitement.

Anne Richardson, M.A. is a Board Certified Chaplain, Certified Veriditas Labyrinth Facilitator, Certified Spiritual Director and poet. Read more...

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Lessons from the Pandemic: You Cannot Fail at Grief

Lessons from the Pandemic: What Does Hope Look Like These Days?

Lessons from the Pandemic: Lamenting & Gratitude Arise Out of the Same Heart

Lessons from the Pandemic: Being with Stillness is Expansive

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