Anne Richardson

June 6, 2022

Ancestral Journey, Beauty, Gratitude, Grief, Kindness, My Mentor Stillness, Pilgrimage, Sojourn, sojourn home, spiritual journey, Stillness

Sojourning with Stillness: Collaborating with Kindness

Anne Richardson

June 6, 2022

Ancestral Journey, Beauty, Gratitude, Grief, Kindness, My Mentor Stillness, Pilgrimage, Sojourn, sojourn home, spiritual journey, Stillness

three weeks in. three weeks into this sojourn and. three weeks and a few days into this sojourn and Stillness finally said “you are making this more complicated than it needs to be.” let me back up to where i left off in my last blog post, “Disconnected.”

after i left my West Highland Way (WHW) companions, it took a couple of days to exhale and expand into my own space again. my roommate was lovely. she would make a “cuppa” at the end of every day for both of us. we were both respectful of the space we shared and made a genuine connection (and are remaining in contact)—so perhaps my perception of connection needed to shift? what was i focusing on? at that point on the journey, my perceptions were more like a kaleidoscope shifting moment-by-moment. no wonder Stillness was waiting to offer insights.

Anne Richardson

February 26, 2021

Grief and Loss, Grief and Loss Workshops, Grief, Grief Journey, Lament, Mother Ocean, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Seasons, spiriutal companionship, unanticipated loss, Winter

Lessons from the Pandemic: Isn't Every Loss Worthy of Grieving?

Anne Richardson

February 26, 2021

Grief and Loss, Grief and Loss Workshops, Grief, Grief Journey, Lament, Mother Ocean, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Seasons, spiriutal companionship, unanticipated loss, Winter

If you have followed me for a while, you have met “The Sisters,” a circle of Big Leaf maples that I visit on my morning walks. A spiritual connection that has deepened since they reached out to me five years ago. They strengthen my rootedness to Earth, helped me prepare for my sojourn in 2019, are a source of wisdom that I share with you. Our relationship is reciprocal—my offering being love, respect, singing them songs, sharing poems and listening.

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

January 22, 2020

Ancestral Journey, Gratitude, Grief Journey, Healing, Life Transitions, My Mentor Grief, Sojourn, writing

Grief: On Keening, Honesty, Healing, and even a bit of Whimsy

Anne Richardson

January 22, 2020

Ancestral Journey, Gratitude, Grief Journey, Healing, Life Transitions, My Mentor Grief, Sojourn, writing

The rain has settled in for the day as I settle into the beige velvet chair of my hotel room—laptop open, journals in piles, scattered papers, and iPhone camera roll close at hand. I have returned to my favorite retreat during the winter months—the Oregon Coast. Cannon Beach. I have come to write. Take time to focus on what is becoming a persistent poke at my heart. Actually, it is more akin to having several toddlers gathered around my ankles all vying for my attention. “Write me!” “No, work on me!” Poems. Non-fiction prose. Blog posts. That book about my spiritual sojourn and weaving it into the journey through my mother’s Alzheimer’s. How grief became my mentor through that journey. That area where from my training and experience I am an expert, so I have something to offer, right? They are all clamoring for my attention.

Anne Richardson

January 8, 2020

Gratitude, spiritual journey, Life Transitions, My Mentor Grief, Sojourn

Winter's Lessons on Grief, Expansiveness, and Transformation

Anne Richardson

January 8, 2020

Gratitude, spiritual journey, Life Transitions, My Mentor Grief, Sojourn

The wind has dropped a limb outside my apartment building, blocking a path. Steady rain has floated decaying leaves downstream, clogging drains and creating mini-ponds in parking lots and along roadsides. I have cloistered myself inside most of the day watching the sky move from chalky gray to a black that bounces the remaining ambient lights of Christmas back down on the neighborhood. We are in deep winter in the Pacific Northwest where a week of water-laden clouds may greet us each morning and stay well into the night. For some, it becomes wearisome. Though I tire of the chill in my bones, I welcome the dampening like a trumpeter that mutes the music to soften crisp tones. It is easier to be still this time of year.

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

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Sojourning with Stillness: Collaborating with Kindness

Lessons from the Pandemic: Isn't Every Loss Worthy of Grieving?

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

Lessons from the Pandemic: Being with Stillness is Expansive

Grief: On Keening, Honesty, Healing, and even a bit of Whimsy

Winter's Lessons on Grief, Expansiveness, and Transformation

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