Gratitude, Remembrance and Awakening
Four years ago, I received a birthday card from my mother. Each year she would include a check as a gift and I would put the funds toward something beautiful for Starbright, my island home. One year I bought red rose bushes. The photos are of the inside of the birthday card she sent me and the first rose of this season, which bloomed on a recently. Traditionally red roses symbolize love, and there is no greater love than that with which she supported me on my life’s pathway. I am reminded daily of her grace, wisdom, compassion, intelligence, kindness, and most of all her capacity as a parent for giving all of herself to her children. She is very much missed.
Sixty-six years ago, she brought me into the world and my parents gave me her name. So, with remembrance on this day of my birth, I send my gratitude for her and for my dad to the heavens. My life has indeed been blessed. I found the card recently while going through some papers and was astounded by the synchronicity of the message. My glow has indeed grown brighter this past year, and I hope the message she so graciously left with me foreshadows my remaining years to come.
Now, I am guided into softness, and the gentle, but powerful, place of the flow of the soul running strong, rippling downstream, like a river in motion. Embracing the flow of the soul’s freedom is like stepping into a new life. One of joy and excitement, one born of wisdom and experience, one awaiting another new adventure. It is an awakening of the spirit, propelling life forward, igniting the divine spark within and having a sense of intimate connection, with what is my perception of divinity.
The awakening brings with it unexpected gifts. As I stepped into an understanding of the true meaning of love, I began a new practice. Each day I sit in quiet contemplation, my hands on my heart center, and I allow myself to give to myself the energy of unconditional love and non-judgmental compassion. When that feels complete, I shift focus and stretch the energy of that love out to those whose names reside in my prayer bowl, and then out to the world at large. This practice has comforted my spirit; creating an ease in daily life, it allows the richness of abundance to manifest in surprising and unexpected ways.
We are not always good about loving and putting ourselves first. I have found that this practice takes effort, but it expands my heart, expands the flow of peace into my life, and the sense of serenity that ensues is priceless. My mother told me two things about my first birthday. It was the day I took my first step; it was also the day my hair went from straight into curly ringlets. As I made my way out of a period of hibernation, patiently living within the depth and discomfort of my shadows, and allowing the haze to flow and release, I came into clarity and recognized it as the gateway to freedom. The movement into a brighter light and higher vibration I can only refer to as a spiritual awakening, a deepening of my understanding of how important it is to show up in the world as my best self.
This birthday my hair, once again, and seemingly overnight changed, reverting from its usual curl to tighter ringlets. When I look in the mirror now, there are times I don’t quite yet recognize this physical aspect of my newly awakened self, and I am reminded of the many stages of transformation Learning, growing and stretching: the amazing beauty and gifts of a unique adventure.
