The Restorative Spring

Can we look back and reflect on the past two years and give ourselves grace? To take ownership of how for most, it was a window of time in our lives that contained the greatest of challenges. Honoring the duration of our overwhelmed systems and the toll we individually and collectively paid? A time for caregivers when we tried to give more than ever before, but the comfort somehow always seemed to fall short. Our bodies may have been ravaged by lack of time to prioritize caring for ourselves and while in the past we may have been able to get by without consideration for any of our own needs it became no longer viable because of the continued strain. Finding that often our old methods of escapism and coping failed to comfort us in the face of continual unpredictability, taking a further cumulative toll on our well-being. We may have had to make great shifts in our understanding about ourselves and our way of living to survive and sometimes even begin to learn how to thrive. For me as I see it, moving forward we always have a choice. We can either white knuckle our way through the inevitable stress and pain of our days or we can practice centering in and finding a steadier balance. Becoming more aware of our inner sensations, as well as our external environments and the tremendous effect they have on our longevity and feelings of well-being, happiness and enjoyment of life. It is unavoidable that life is filled with unknown challenges around every turn. Practicing a more easeful baseline assists us with not only our day-to-day experience, but creates more firm ground in the face of unexpected catastrophe. That even without major upheaval, we will enjoy our everyday experience with more ease, grace and wide-open view of what remains beautiful about life. We can then be even more capable of looking forward to the things that require restoration, or even further at the things that contained no beauty at all and need to be completely rewritten for us to move forward with a focus on the collective sovereignty, authenticity and agency for all individuals. For everyone to have increasing access to freedom and the opportunity to express the beauty and depth of their own unwritten stories.