The past few days after Thanksgiving have been a blessing of some much needed time with my son and husband. All of the scheduled things unravelled and we were left with space to sit by the wood stove, ask questions, giggle at drawing on one another’s toes (yeah we do that in my family) and be out in nature.
Sunday morning was cold. As I quietly opened the front door so as not to wake my son and husband I looked out into a world where the trees appeared to be encased in glass, the grass looked entombed in frost, and everything was so very still. It was magical and a contrast to the steaming cup of coffee in my hand.
My son came up the stairs with The Look. You may know the one and it may be called other things like, Stinkface, Grumposauras rex, choose your label, -regardless, it too was a contrast to the scene outdoors. Without another thought, I handed him some clothes and told him we were going on an errand. When we passed the car, the questions arose but after a few moments, shifted to the sound of his feet shift swiftly over the leaves as he began to jump up and down to feel them crunch under his feet. As his breath quickened he noticed the clouds coming out of his mouth and followed their form upwards to see the trees glistening with ice. Wonder.
As we continued to walk on (that was our errand), I could feel him shifting and slowly he began to chatter like the birds above as the sunlight began to strengthen making nature thaw. Curious, I asked him what he was feeling upon waking and he relayed that he felt stressed because he remembered that he had unfinished work upon returning to school. I asked him if there was anything to be done about it in this very moment: ‘No’, -and then asked him how he felt now, to which he replied, ‘calm’.
In life and also during this time of year, it is easy to be carried away by our heads and what they think we should be doing. The lists grow, the strings on fingers multiply and our eyes travel ever downward when where they could focus is on the light we cannot see as well at the beauty surrounding us. When we can take the time to look at what’s actually right in front of us, it can restore the picture of our days and lives when the clouds of worry and doubt cast their shadows.
We invite you during these winter months to walk with us, move with us, breath with us and be renewed and in awe of the stunning beauty that surrounds us daily and is within us, always.
With Love,
Your Friends at TYC
“May the sun bring you new energy by day,
may the moon softly restore you by night,
may the rain wash away your worries,
may the breeze blow new strength into your being,
may you walk gently through the world and know
it’s beauty all the days of your life.”
-an Apache blessing