in {{this}} moment. naming & noticing: change.

sometimes our friendships are challenged.  sometimes our relationships fill our cup.  sometimes they empty us.  our relationships and encounters are an ebb and flow of energy.  we give and receive.  we can offer ourselves and the gift of our selves to another freely, without agenda.  we simply ask to be seen and heard and known.  we need witnesses to our journey.  we need to give and receive love.

to love deeply is to hurt deeply.

a dear, dear friend with whom i've been her pastor and collaborated with for over what, seven or eight years, has moved to another state.  thankfully in the month since she's moved we've already shared a meal once.  i'm glad she is in a place that is "like returning home" for her with a job that will be easier on her body.  i'm so glad for her.  yet, i grieve her physical absence from my home.  i miss my friend being in my home city.  ((and i am thankful that she is a phone call away.  and we do.  we do call each other.))

our routines and rituals shift as we move with life's ebb and flow.

these days i feel the energy shifting.  within my own body.  the shift that surrounds me.

with the moves and shifts from long school days into summer days, the energy needs to shift.  attention changes.  mindfulness can take place in new areas.

even steady routines hold change.  each trail run holds new green life bursting from the earth.  new rocks are added to tree altars in the woods.  birds are singing their heart song.  friends have new stories.  pups are eager and energetic.

change is true.  shifts happen.

there are gifts and lessons in each bit of change.  in each shift.  i find these lessons to be ever so present in these shifts, when the ground is moving beneath our feet.  one moment we feel exceptionally grounded and then next falling on our faces.

i love that practing yoga, balance is different for each side of the body.  balance is different from one yoga session to the next, even morning to night.

yet our center is the same.  the greatest joy, challenge, gift, lesson these days is that centering is key.  to be centered within, engaging my body and my soul's core, i can be grounded even when the ground is shifting beneath my feet.  i feel it.  i know it.

wisdom keeps me centered.  eating well.  caring for my body.  sleeping.  standing in the light of my truth.  lighting a candle for a grandfather.  responding to and loving my friends, soulsisters, and soul friends.

there is so much goodness. in chaos.  amidst chaos.  despite chaos.

to love deeply is to hurt deeply.
to show up is a gift.
to give your body a deep breath is love. and another.  and another.

be brave and kind.  be gentle.  love your self. 

((reminding myself.  maybe you need the love note, too?))

 

sending love.  receiving love.   xo.