A Day and Life Filled with Blessings
I began this day by having coffee with a woman who came into my life a year ago, first as a yoga student, and now as a friend. I went to her lovely house, perched high above a creek that feeds into the very river that I paddle on. It was beautiful to behold a small arm that feeds the very body of water that has sustained my own journey...
My friend is a woman of faith and we shared our respective journeys with each other. Both of us have faced immense difficulties in the last couple of years, and have had to begin our lives anew and re-create our communities at a time when most at this stage are simply more settled...
My friend shared with me the impact that both my teaching and the reading of this blog has had on her. I was very humbled to hear what she had to say, for I began my writing so unexpectedly, not knowing or foreseeing that it would become an essential part of a long healing process.
After teaching yoga to a wonderful couple later in the morning, I decided to just do something totally fun, so I went to see the movie "Julie and Julia." While I knew the movie was about one woman deciding to cook her way through all the recipes in Julia Child's cookbook, the movie also profiled the life of the legendary cook, Julia Child.
Julie Powell decides to cook all the recipes in Julia's cookbook in 365 days, and to blog about her experiences along the way. In the process, she discovers that she touches many lives. I was very interested in this subtext of the movie - for it moved me very profoundly, perhaps more than the rest of the story, for obvious reasons!
After the movie, I stopped in at at Borders next to the theatre to pick up some books to read, including a novel a friend of mine had recommended. I realized it has been a very long time since I've read one, and it was time to lighten up on my usual fare of reading materials!
I came home and reflected a little more on the movie, and how we never really know the impact we have on other people's lives. Sometimes one small act of kindness can have a tremendous ripple effect, and often we have no idea where it will end...
About a year and half ago, when I was in the midst of a deep depression that I would not even admit to myself - and worked very hard to hide from those closest to me, two wonderful angels, both very intuitive, always called me at precisely the right moment and time. One would coax me out to go to Starbucks on days when I could hardly get myself out of bed. Today is the birthday of that angel. The other blessed soul simply knew when I was at my lowest low, and would call when I just could not reach out to anyone else. But their small acts of kindness had a profound impact on me and enabled me to begin the healing work I needed to do.
Now, a couple of years down the road from so many changes, I can look back and see God's hand in all of it. I am grateful to all the people whom I have met since who have been so supportive, and to those relationships that endured and remained steadfast throughout it all. I am just as grateful to all the healers I worked with and to my gifted therapist.
For the first time in several years, I realized that I have once again begun to live my life from a place of gratitude and joy that had eluded me for a while. The fruit of my practice has also provided needed sustenance.
Last night, I woke up a few hours before dawn. This has become a pattern of late for me. I awoke and let myself float easily into a meditative state. I simply let God come to me - and He entered my soul as dawn enters a darkened room and filled me with His Light. I felt enveloped in a Love I cannot begin to describe, and drifted off to sleep eventually, sinking deeply into a pool of blessings and bliss.
It was a night of blessings. It has been a day of blessings. I have lived a life as well lived as I have been capable of, and it too has been filled with blessings...
My friend is a woman of faith and we shared our respective journeys with each other. Both of us have faced immense difficulties in the last couple of years, and have had to begin our lives anew and re-create our communities at a time when most at this stage are simply more settled...
My friend shared with me the impact that both my teaching and the reading of this blog has had on her. I was very humbled to hear what she had to say, for I began my writing so unexpectedly, not knowing or foreseeing that it would become an essential part of a long healing process.
After teaching yoga to a wonderful couple later in the morning, I decided to just do something totally fun, so I went to see the movie "Julie and Julia." While I knew the movie was about one woman deciding to cook her way through all the recipes in Julia Child's cookbook, the movie also profiled the life of the legendary cook, Julia Child.
Julie Powell decides to cook all the recipes in Julia's cookbook in 365 days, and to blog about her experiences along the way. In the process, she discovers that she touches many lives. I was very interested in this subtext of the movie - for it moved me very profoundly, perhaps more than the rest of the story, for obvious reasons!
After the movie, I stopped in at at Borders next to the theatre to pick up some books to read, including a novel a friend of mine had recommended. I realized it has been a very long time since I've read one, and it was time to lighten up on my usual fare of reading materials!
I came home and reflected a little more on the movie, and how we never really know the impact we have on other people's lives. Sometimes one small act of kindness can have a tremendous ripple effect, and often we have no idea where it will end...
About a year and half ago, when I was in the midst of a deep depression that I would not even admit to myself - and worked very hard to hide from those closest to me, two wonderful angels, both very intuitive, always called me at precisely the right moment and time. One would coax me out to go to Starbucks on days when I could hardly get myself out of bed. Today is the birthday of that angel. The other blessed soul simply knew when I was at my lowest low, and would call when I just could not reach out to anyone else. But their small acts of kindness had a profound impact on me and enabled me to begin the healing work I needed to do.
Now, a couple of years down the road from so many changes, I can look back and see God's hand in all of it. I am grateful to all the people whom I have met since who have been so supportive, and to those relationships that endured and remained steadfast throughout it all. I am just as grateful to all the healers I worked with and to my gifted therapist.
For the first time in several years, I realized that I have once again begun to live my life from a place of gratitude and joy that had eluded me for a while. The fruit of my practice has also provided needed sustenance.
Last night, I woke up a few hours before dawn. This has become a pattern of late for me. I awoke and let myself float easily into a meditative state. I simply let God come to me - and He entered my soul as dawn enters a darkened room and filled me with His Light. I felt enveloped in a Love I cannot begin to describe, and drifted off to sleep eventually, sinking deeply into a pool of blessings and bliss.
It was a night of blessings. It has been a day of blessings. I have lived a life as well lived as I have been capable of, and it too has been filled with blessings...
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