Bye 2021, Hello 2022

 Hello Fellow Traveler,

I have had so many words bubbling up as this last day of 2021 came into view. So many thoughts, trying to find a way to be expressed, formed, and woven into words that would give some meaning to all that was experienced this last 365 days.

And the words bring emotion. Big emotion, that still has not fully processed, or at least processed enough so I could continue to walk through the days of 2021.

I am not sure I am ready to say goodbye to a year quite yet. And the world doesn't wait.

Saying bye requires I take stock, and there is a lot to take stock of. Where do I begin?

Taking a look back, I suppose it is time to thank all of. you. To share with you a bit more of my personal journey over the last year. To let you know again, that each and every one of you have been a part of a team of great love and support for me, my healing arts practice, and to each other. I am sure of it. Each one of you, whether you have been a part of this email group, of clients friends, family, (my fellow travelers), for many years or a few weeks, are a vital and integral part of the energy that brings healing and compassion to this constantly changing world.

Back in the day when Heart of Gaia was Inspirations to the Heart, and email lists were a new thing, and virtual was only done via phone or maybe Skype is when this group formed. Back when journaling was something a few people talked about, and Reiki and Intuitive Guidance were a phenomenon to many (and an ancestral remembrance for me), is when this group came into being.

You are a part of a vision I have had for a very long time. A group of individuals interested in shining their light, learning new things, awakening to their true power, overcoming obstacles, defying odds, saying no to anything that does not support love and saying yes to innovative ideas and actions that are rooted in ancient and familiar knowing.

You are a part of a collaborative coalition of everyday humans who desire to live beyond where they have been told they were allowed to go.

You are a group of creative souls, desiring and yearning to listen to your heart and figure out how to be in service to your hearts calling.

You are brave in your healing, awakening to injustices, and not afraid to hold your own feet to the fires of truth. And you believe in the ever present power of spirit and magic and synchronicities.

You are the grounding for me and for Heart of Gaia.

My personal journey over the last year has brought me to take stock of how important the days are. How significant the time spent with loved ones is. How so much of what is problematic with this world is unnecessary cruelty, and a lack of empathy and compassion for our fellow human.

I take stock of how I vow to live with deeper compassion and empathy and kindess. I take stock of where that shows up and has been applied in my life. I take stock of compassion in action in 2021.

I faced a deep fear and lived terror this year. You may remember the times I asked for your healing and prayers for my son as he underwent procedures to help his heart. While you all helped me by praying and sending healing for my son as he went through various procedures, many of you do not know that he had a cardiac arrest during his procedure. Many of you do not know that I counted on and felt your powerful blessings more than ever when I needed them most.

Today, as I take stock, I am thanking you. I am thanking life, I am thanking my daughter- in- love, who loves my son so much, I am thanking their love for each other, her unwavering love in action. I am thanking my children, each and every one, who have gone through so very much since we lost their brother, my youngest son a few years ago. I am thanking them for how they showed up in ways that show their love and care, courage and compassion. I am thanking the beyond intelligent team of cardiologists who saved his life, knew what to do, and did it. I thank the chemists and scientists who created the medicine that miraculously got his heart into a regular rhythm, I thank the nurses who brought me ice water, and carefully explained all that was happening. I thank the first researchers who discovered the surgery that fixed my sons heart when he was ten days old, and the researchers who continue to perfect pediatric heart surgeries so babies born now don't have the problems my son has. I thank my son for his courage to live with a special heart and all that entails. I thank the overworked, yet hopeful ICU teams. I thank the world of Medicine.

I thank everyone who makes it possible to live in the hospital for as long as necessary and not a moment longer. I thank everyone with a sense of humor.

So many thanks...

I take stock of both my strength and surrender. I take stock of the truth that I have lived this past year in a deeper resolve of what has always mattered to me. I give thanks that I am able to navigate and survive a life that takes me to places I do not want to go, but are here anyway. I do so through knowing what truly matters and grounding into that, building up from it and holding fast to it as the world continuously swirls with challenges and upsets.

I take stock of lived compassion, continuous empathy for myself and my fellow traveler, and loads of kindnesses offered. I take stock in living each day, even when it is a very shitty, hard day, as a curious miracle. For that is what I believe this year has shown itself to be. A curious miracle. It is the days and times spent with my loved ones, soaking up their smiles and feeling their tears, the awe and wonder of the machines and medicines that bring people back to life, the contentment and healing peace of my daughter packing snacks for me as I head off to face the unknown. The words typed and sent out to all of you, and the responses back. How fast and slow the hours tick by. A curious miracle. All of it.

I take stock in my dreams for more healing, more sharing and more blessings all around!

Bye 2021, thank you for giving me the times to dig deeper and live truer in healing love.

Now, go take stock. And thank you!

Love,

Mary