I spent this morning reflecting in my journal, most of which was written this summer. I believe in morning pages, Julia Cameron. I write 3 pages each day. When I reach the end of the journal pages, I like to reflect on the words and ideas.
This has become a bit daunting, so I have begun to star key ideas as I write each day. This enables me to look back for the starred information and create a list at the end of each journal.
This summer I found I had plenty of time to dream…REM sleep was in full swing! I love that!
The key words that appeared over and over were as follows:
Kindness, patience, “this too shall pass”, listen, support, say thank you, give
I will be writing affirmations soon that focus on these important words and life creating ideas.
When my father-in-law, Harry, passed away about 8 years ago, we kept his memory alive through the one thing in nature that he always loved…birds. There was a heron that would come to my mother-in-law at the spring fed pond where she lived. She would be reminded of Harry each time.
She took pictures of the heron. We all looked for herons during special occasions…and remarkably one would fly by. On a trip to Switzerland where family resides, driving down the road to significant locations we frequented, on other trips… My parents, who were also close to my in-laws, saw herons, too. They would call and say they saw a heron and were wondering what might be going on in our lives…usually, it was something important.
When my mother-in-law was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 3 years ago, she and two of her sons (one of those sons was my husband) went up to close the family cottage. On their leaving, they saw movement on a local farm. They looked closer…a field filled with herons! I am not kidding…hundreds! It put me in mind of all of the wonderful folktales about birds as spirits.
Just a few weeks ago, we were up at the family cottage. We went out to take an early morning boat ride and from the picture above, you can see who was there to great us! We had always seen the herons flying by…but this one was telling us “good-morning”. We felt extremely blessed…and loved…and watched over.
Here is a site that we love…poems and watercolors from Heron Dance continue to bring us reminders of our wonderful parents…Harry and Genanne…thanks for the love and the visits…
Water Circles by Susan Loughrin
