What we once deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we loved deeply becomes a part of us.”
– Helen Keller
How has your holiday season been? As we passed the winter solstice and sunlights gradually returning to a longer duration in the northern hemisphere, are you taking in the light and warmth, even if it’s a little a day?
With the latest Covid wave, an in-person retreat that I was planning to attend moved to online last minute. After the initial disappointment, I ended up appreciating the richness of an at-home retreat, especially when the conditions are right when I was able to practice in solitude. I saw my patterns more vividly and clearly since they were even more evident in the home environment. And I saw the beauty and richness of my neighborhood in a way never before.
As I was doing walking meditation in a city park nearby, even though I have walked, played, meditated in this park in the last 15 years, for the first time, these small plaques on the back of the park benches caught my attention. “What we once deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we loved deeply becomes a part of us. – Helen Keller, in memorial of xxx,” one says. “I was crazy to move to NYC. And you are crazy to marry me,” another one says. “For all the beautiful memories we had in this park when we were a new family. To our children,” yet another says. And all of sudden, I was enveloped and overwhelmed by the love of the people that came through these tiny plaques. The park has always been beautiful and full of memories as I have had endless conversations with friends, play dates with my son, and many quiet moments of reading and meditation, but I have never felt so connected with all the stories and people whom I have never known, who equally shared their joys and sorrows in this park. Besides the love of humans, the park has also been consciously planting native plants to support local ecosystems for migrating butterflies and birds. One native plan can support 14 species of birds, one sign indicated. I was able to take in the care and love of the park caretakers, of the mutual web of support we can offer each other, for all species of life.
By the end of that walking meditation, I felt I was held by a vast web of interconnection, seen and unseen, human and non-human beings. Turned out I didn’t need to get out of the city to sense love, shared humanity, and interconnection that I often felt when I was in the wilderness. Turns out we can find deep connections in a walk in the city park in New York. That is the gift of slowing down, paying attention, tuning into our body, and opening our hearts. What a gift.
As we marked the beginning of a new year and the passing of an old one, what rituals can you create to allow yourself to slow down, pay attention, reflect on the gifts and learnings of the past year, and open yourself to new growth and set the intention of the new year? What kind of space can you create to connect to the sacred in your daily life? What scents and beauty can you bring in? What elements – fire, water, earth, air – can you call in to bring balance? What objects bring meaning to this space – ancestors, lineage, mementos? What colors bring you inspiration and positive emotions? What seasonal flowers or plants? What music touches your soul and goes right to your heart? What writing process may help your inner process to unfold freely? Wishing you time and space to create your own rituals to ask questions and find inner guidance.
May you find your rituals that bring you to your highest vibration and allow your clear intention and vision to come through. May you be blessed in the new year.
