Anne Richardson

March 3, 2023

Ambiguous Loss, Connection, Covid-19, dementia, disenfranchised grief, Gratitude, Grief and Loss, Grief Literacy, Hope, Kindness, Labyrinth, My Mentor Grief, Newsletter, spiriutal companionship, Winter, professional presentation

Winter Newsletter: Footfalls On The Journey—Shifting Landscapes Shift Perspectives

Anne Richardson

March 3, 2023

Ambiguous Loss, Connection, Covid-19, dementia, disenfranchised grief, Gratitude, Grief and Loss, Grief Literacy, Hope, Kindness, Labyrinth, My Mentor Grief, Newsletter, spiriutal companionship, Winter, professional presentation

Ah February in the Pacific NW. Our mild winter faked us out with a few warm spring-like days earlier in the month. This is typical. A few bulbs poke up. Trees start budding and a few have even bloomed some years, though at least this year the cherries didn’t. Wise those cherries. We are giddy with visions of lighter jackets and warmer days.

Then cold swept in with an unexpectedly large gathering of snow in the lowlands. Caught the weather-folk by surprise as well as the evening commuters on a recent Wednesday. Portland recorded 10-12” in some neighborhoods. My higher elevation abode had about 10”. It turned into an icy mess once the snow thawed a bit and refroze. All the headlines read “snowapocalypse”and folks in the midwest rolled their eyes I’m sure. Now this is typical…a “false” spring followed by more “wintery mixes,” but we are a hopeful bunch in the Pacific NW (or forgetful) and think each year will be different.

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

May 9, 2022

Ancestral Journey, Belonging, Covid-19, dementia, Gestations, Gratitude, Grief, Grief and Loss, Grief Journey, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Pilgrimage, Seasons, Sojourn, Stillness

Lessons from the Pandemic: Unsettled Grief—Where do we go from here?

Anne Richardson

May 9, 2022

Ancestral Journey, Belonging, Covid-19, dementia, Gestations, Gratitude, Grief, Grief and Loss, Grief Journey, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Pilgrimage, Seasons, Sojourn, Stillness

Wee birds have created three nests outside my apartment. Three! One on the wreath attached to my front door. Two are on the deck in hanging pots. Juncos have taken up residency, voicing annoyance with every coming and going. I tap on the door before exiting, tug slowly on the handle and apologize to the small body complaining on the railing, railing at my disturbance. When I return home, I see a small head poking out of the nest. I wave my hand “hello,” and the mama flies out and sizes me up, assess the situation. Will I try to harm her eggs? What tack should she take? Attack? Opening the door, I slip inside. I want to retrieve my step stool and peek at the eggs, but that seems like an intrusion. They need nurturing. Warmth, not peering. So I leave them be, though I can’t resist snapping a quick photo before she returns.

Anne Richardson

June 16, 2021

Beauty, Breathing, Covid-19, Gratitude, Grief, Grief and Loss, Grief Journey, Healing, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Poetry, Trauma

Lessons from the Pandemic: Where's the Grief?

Anne Richardson

June 16, 2021

Beauty, Breathing, Covid-19, Gratitude, Grief, Grief and Loss, Grief Journey, Healing, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Poetry, Trauma

An invitation. A plea. Please, what ever you are doing in this moment—stop. Take a minute. Two. A half-hour. More. Breathe deeply if you are able. Too much? Then shallow, light breaths. Pants. Sips of air. If that is all your body can handle—take that in and then let those molecules slip out between your lips, one-by-one. Slide back in. Slow yourself down. Please. No hurry to read the rest of this blog. Set your phone down. “Sleep” your computer. Take time to nurture your soul. My words will be waiting. Step away for a spell and I’ll reconnect with you in a while…

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

January 29, 2021

Brokenness, Darkness, Gratitude, Grief, Grief Journey, Healing, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Pilgrimage, Poetry, spiritual journey, spiriutal companionship, Thresholds, Wildness, Apprentice, Questions

Lessons from the Pandemic: Deep Weariness, Changing the Conversation, Asking Beautiful Questions

Anne Richardson

January 29, 2021

Brokenness, Darkness, Gratitude, Grief, Grief Journey, Healing, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Pilgrimage, Poetry, spiritual journey, spiriutal companionship, Thresholds, Wildness, Apprentice, Questions

In my dreams I don’t wear a mask. No one does. It is not a thing. There is no pandemic. My dreams are still full of disjointed images. Metaphorical and archetypal meaning. But NO MASKS. Even if the dream disturbs me, I don’t want to wake up.

And the other day when I arrived at the grocery store, I had a deep longing to enter without my mask. To have no one wearing a mask. To see smiles and frowns—full faces. To hear unmuffled voices. And that all was “normal.” No bottles of sanitizer at the entry point. No gatekeeper. This longing comes close to consuming me some days. From reading Facebook, Instagram and opinion pieces, I am not alone in my longing.

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

October 5, 2020

Breathing, Gratitude, Grief and Loss, Healing, Life Transitions, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Poetry, spiritual journey, spiriutal companionship, Thresholds, Stillness

Lessons from the Pandemic: Open to Stillness, Open to Being Brave

Anne Richardson

October 5, 2020

Breathing, Gratitude, Grief and Loss, Healing, Life Transitions, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Poetry, spiritual journey, spiriutal companionship, Thresholds, Stillness

Mornings start in the dark. Reflective gear strapped on. Flashlight in hand. I set out with a few stars visible on cloudless mornings and Mars moving toward setting. It is autumn and the air, despite an unusual warm spell during the daylight hours, has the temperament of fall. A hint of chill. Leaves have begun to tumble downward and are crisp under foot. A crimson thread of light stitches the earth to the sky. As minutes pass, dawn opens its arms to me. Trees that were easily distinguishable on summer jaunts, transform from shadow to shape to friend. By the time I reach The Summit, an hour into my walk, day has arrived. My mind is streaming with snippets of poems or pondering an essay or talk I have heard. And I am ready to drop into my daily gratitude practice at the highest point in my neighborhood where outlines of cityscapes and mountains merge in the distance.

Anne Richardson

September 2, 2020

Covid-19, Gratitude, Grief, Grief and Loss, Life Transitions, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Pilgrimage, Thresholds, writing, Honoriing Life Transition, Poetry

Lessons from the Pandemic: Have You Taken Time to Be Still? Invitation to a Workshop: Recognizing & Honoring Life Transitions

Anne Richardson

September 2, 2020

Covid-19, Gratitude, Grief, Grief and Loss, Life Transitions, My Mentor Grief, Pandemic, Pilgrimage, Thresholds, writing, Honoriing Life Transition, Poetry

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.

Anne Richardson

April 17, 2020

Covid-19, Gratitude, Grief

Lessons From My Mentor, Grief: Crossing Thresholds, Honoring the Pause

Anne Richardson

April 17, 2020

Covid-19, Gratitude, Grief

I rise these days with the sun. The alarm has been set aside. I walk instead of swim. I’ve become reacquainted with my neighborhood. The pulse of spring rife with birdsong flows around me like the water of the pool used to. Daffodils are leaving the main stage and tulips have made their entrance. Two weeks ago, an apple tree with furled cocoon-like leaves and tight, cream colored buds is now a riotous white and green harbinger of late summer delight. Last week I walked to the highest point in our neighborhood to see the pink moon grazing tree tops. No sense of hurry—the moon or I.

Anne Richardson

February 21, 2020

Gratitude, Grief, Grief Journey, Life Transitions, My Mentor Grief, Sojourn, spiritual journey, Intangible Loss, Gestations

Grief's Dance Card, Loss Reminders, and Compass Points

Anne Richardson

February 21, 2020

Gratitude, Grief, Grief Journey, Life Transitions, My Mentor Grief, Sojourn, spiritual journey, Intangible Loss, Gestations

Spring is making an early appearance in the Pacific NW and I suppose I am happy about that. The daffodils are starting to bloom and daffodils of all ilk were my mother’s and are one of my favorite flowers. Our winter has been wet, but no bitter cold snaps and snow has remained in the mountains where I prefer it. I’ve relished the long, dark nights and even the endless days of January rain didn’t bother me while many of my friends shared feelings of being sucked into a gray cloud the size of the state of Oregon. So, I guess I’m happy spring is less than four weeks away.

Anne Richardson

November 26, 2019

Grief, Grief Journey, Life Transitions, sojourn home, spiritual journey

Gestation, Grief, and Gratitude

Anne Richardson

November 26, 2019

Grief, Grief Journey, Life Transitions, sojourn home, spiritual journey

The air has been crisp as a tree-fresh apple this week. My cheeks slipping into redness as my hands dive into my pockets and the morning moon lingers high in the west. The waning moon holding onto night even as the sun rises low in the late autumn sky. I want to hold onto night, too. Want to snuggle under covers and discard the list of “shoulds” that I composed. Want to wane into the new moon of me and hide in the shadow of winter dark. To take a small candle and explore my interior landscape one, small step at a time. Take midday naps. Engage with my dreams. Listen deep for what is next. Hit pause on my commitments. Does this resonate with you? This desire to go inward as days shorten.

Anne Richardson

September 19, 2019

Grief, Grief Journey, Life Transitions, spiritual journey

Sneaker Waves-Opening Boxes, Finding Grief

Anne Richardson

September 19, 2019

Grief, Grief Journey, Life Transitions, spiritual journey

“Never turn your back on the ocean.” A teaching offered to me as a youngster. Living close to the Oregon Coast where sleeper waves can heave logs on to shore or wash an unsuspecting walker out to sea in an eye-blink, it is a sound piece of wisdom. Even as I connect in my being to the sea as “Mother Ocean,” I was reminded of this on a recent visit when I was knee deep in water seconds after noting the waves were a good 20 feet out and seemed to be biding their time, lapping more than galloping. She wanted my attention—“Daughter, something is stirring.” Something is stirring.

Anne Richardson

July 16, 2019

Ancestral Journey, Belonging, Grief Journey, sojourn home, spiritual journey

Sojourning with Grief-Portals, Stories, and the Slow Process of Unpacking

Anne Richardson

July 16, 2019

Ancestral Journey, Belonging, Grief Journey, sojourn home, spiritual journey

My body moves in water more like thick, embroidery floss through a needlepoint canvas than a dolphin crossing oceans. I am not a proficient swimmer but water feels familiar and lap swimming is as much a spiritual practice for me as exercise. Only after completing a restless hour swimming on Monday the 15th did I become aware that day, July 15th, marked three months since I took my first steps on the shores of Scotland. I couldn’t settle into the present moment of water flowing over my shoulders, spilling down my spine, and splashing behind my kicking feet, but I didn’t know why. Instead I was distracted by the pain in my left leg that lingers since I fell hiking over two weeks ago; frustrated I can’t walk this land and reacquaint myself with these trees and hills. Distracted by strands of past conversations that dropped into my head, following them into thickets of brambles that poked and scratched me and serve no purpose but to hurt. Back and forth I swam, trying to release the distractions.

Anne Richardson

June 26, 2019

Ancestral Journey, Belonging, Grief, Grief and Loss Workshops, Grief Journey, sojourn home, spiritual journey

Sojourning with Grief-Returning

Anne Richardson

June 26, 2019

Ancestral Journey, Belonging, Grief, Grief and Loss Workshops, Grief Journey, sojourn home, spiritual journey

My half-open eyes see a cathedral in the darkness of my bedroom before I realize I am home. I hear the first notes of birdsong as the light peaks over the horizon and I float with them across the ocean to another land I also call home. What was familiar seems out of place and old routines lie in a jumble on the floor. In my first week home I lost cash, my spare prescription glasses, and my patience while driving. One of the few things that feels grounding is returning to lap swimming. Somehow the fluidity of water settles me. Crossing the threshold home after Sojourning with Grief has brought me into an old place with new eyes. The familiar is now unfamiliar. I am disoriented.

Anne Richardson

December 4, 2016

Freedom From Fear

Anne Richardson

December 4, 2016

Ever have a bee buzzing around your ear. You move away concerned it might sting you, only to have it follow. Back and forth, back and forth you tussle until you resign to let it go. Soon, the buzz becomes part of the melody of the day and the fear subsides as you realize the fear of getting stung was greater than the actual risk. Following the path of the bee, listening to the melody was a gift waiting to be accepted. That gift was freedom from the fear.

Anne Richardson

May 28, 2016

Perspective

Anne Richardson

May 28, 2016

Sometimes I challenge myself in small ways. For example by turning right instead of left on my walk. (This seems like it would be simple but I am a creature of habit, so have to literally tell myself “turn right!”) I did this the other day and noticed a small dead end street hidden from view when I came from the other direction. And the shrubs, flowers, even the shading of the houses looked different. Same houses, same flowers, same shrubs but a subtle difference in lighting and angles because my way of looking had changed.

Sojourning with Stillness: Collaborating with Kindness

Lessons from the Pandemic: Unsettled Grief—Where do we go from here?

Lessons from the Pandemic: Where's the Grief?

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

Lessons from the Pandemic: Deep Weariness, Changing the Conversation, Asking Beautiful Questions

Lessons from the Pandemic: Being with Stillness is Expansive

Lessons from the Pandemic: Open to Stillness, Open to Being Brave

Lessons from the Pandemic: Have You Taken Time to Be Still? Invitation to a Workshop: Recognizing & Honoring Life Transitions

Lessons From My Mentor, Grief: Crossing Thresholds, Honoring the Pause

Grief's Dance Card, Loss Reminders, and Compass Points

Gestation, Grief, and Gratitude

Sneaker Waves-Opening Boxes, Finding Grief

Sojourning with Grief-Portals, Stories, and the Slow Process of Unpacking

Sojourning with Grief-Returning

Freedom From Fear

Perspective

Subscribe

Get in touch

For Individuals

For Professionals

Labyrinth

Helpful

Social