Week 44 – The secret ingredient to all healing.
Greetings!
I’m heading to Orlando, Florida on Friday, November 6th for the next Speak, Write, Promote workshop. You can get info here.
Then I’ll be in New York on November 14th for the last I Can Do It conference of the year. You can get info here.
Finally, I’ll be in Seattle on February 12th for the first “I Can Do It” conference of 2016 and for my new Self-Care Boot Camp one-day intensive for the general public and for coaches who are interested in taking their skills to a whole new level. You can read all about both programs here.
Have a wonderful week!
Love,
Cheryl
p.s. – Need a little Divine Direction? Use the “Touch of Grace” button on our homepage here.
The secret ingredient to all healing.
Today is an exemplary fall day. The skies are bright blue with a few pale, wispy clouds. The temperature is a cool and comfortable 60 degrees. There’s a lazy wind bending trees this way and that. And the sun is casting long shadows over the pots on the deck filled with the remaining flowers of summer.
Autumn is a tricky time. While I love being able to tend to plants in the middle of a cool afternoon, I hate watching the petunias and geraniums fade. The shock of color from zinnias and marigolds sends me running for my camera, and yet I feel a hollow kind of emptiness, knowing that I’ll need to say goodbye to them soon.
I always get a little depressed when the flowers start to die back. They’re like children I’ve nurtured and cared for all summer long and I’m not ready to say goodbye.
This year, with the help of a medicine woman named Roberta Horsman, I created a healing garden on our back deck. I filled it with vegetables, flowers, and statuary and it became a magical second home.
The energy and beauty of the plants and statues have inspired creativity. I’ve loved writing in this space. New succulent plants have been a source of surprise and wonder when unexpected flowers suddenly appear. And it’s been the perfect spot to hang with Michael and friends for a dose of peace and serenity while enjoying great conversations.
This afternoon, while working on the deck, I thought about how a garden is a metaphor for life. We plant seeds, watch life grow, provide ongoing care, enjoy the fruits of our labor, and eventually come face-to-face with having to say goodbye.
Goodbye.
I have a hard time finding the good in goodbyes.
I know life requires us to be present to everything – the success and sadness, the peace and pain. Learning to be with all of our feelings is fertilizer for growth and healing.
It’s just not that easy.
So today, as I appreciate this magical world I’ve cared for over the last few months, I do my best to stay with the joy and the sadness. It’s a healing garden after all.
And you can’t heal what you don’t feel.
This Week’s Video
This video contains the most highly revered mantra from the Vedas sung by Deva Premal. It’s a sacred Hindu prayer set to stunning visual images. While the video is long, even a few minutes will calm you and stir your soul. You can watch it here. Thanks, Joanie!
