I believe the practice of feeling and expressing gratitude, even when it seems that all we can focus on is our hardships, is one of the most powerful ways to experience grace and love in our lives. I call it a practice, because that is what we must do - practice over and over again, our soul's connection to what we are grateful for, even through disappointment, heartache and anxiety.
But then there are those others times...
Those rare but brilliant moments when your gratitude for life is so deeply lived that its all you can do to keep yourself from bursting. Yes, they are rare, but perhaps that is only because the pause needed to find those bright and shining emerald moments comes to us so infrequently in our busy, ever accumulating lives.
That is why I love celebrating seasonal holidays - they offer those needed moments of pause to connect with gratitude and the Autumnal Equinox this past weekend was just that; the most welcome pause to reflect and connect with my small, but vital place is this ever expanding universe. I connected with my blessings on a deep and powerful level.
Right now, I am grateful for....
:: the life growing inside me. I never, ever take it for granted and everyday of this pregnancy has been a blessing - the desire in my heart, and my partner's, to create this little being was so strong and the practice of patience, to let life come when it was ready, was just that - an everyday practice until that seed of a blessing took hold and started to grow.
:: for community. I spent much of my life away from the pack and do enjoy my sense of independence. Yet, I find myself more and more in community - both in person and online - and find that is offers up immense possibility; for growth, for sharing, for love.
:: letting the Soul lead. I love asking the Soul questions - what do you need? What is your desire? Where are we headed? But I have found that I need not fret so much with the questions and rather make more space for answers. I am not sure why, perhaps it was the ease of summer, but I stopped asking so many questions and trying to find the answers and lo-and-behold, all of a sudden I looked around and found I was immersed in answers - not ones I could articulate or write down. Its more like a feeling of...contentment. And knowing that I am living my life fully and the soul is leading.
:: seeing my work out in the world. This is a big one! I think I often hold back from releasing big ideas out into the world, instead waiting for some unattainable moment when it seems perfect to do so. I am also a bit of a degree and education collector, which of course is wonderful - knowledge is a powerful thing. But when that accumulation holds us back, it less of a doorway and more of a damn needing to burst.
:: speaking of work out in the world - I am so proud to have an article in the premier issue of Sacred Pregnancy magazine, which I wrote on "Nourishing Herbs for Pregnancy". What's really great is that there is a free teaser for the magazine that contains my full article! The magazine itself is gorgeous and I will be continuing my writing in the issues to come. Seeing my work out in the world can be scary because it opens me up to that which I cannot control, but that is work the Soul is blessed to have.
:: my connection to nature - to the plants, herbs, flowers, and animals. I am deeply grateful for how this connection shows up in my life.
I wish you all deep pauses and soulful blessings in the fall season to come - remember, there isn't anything you need to do to connect with gratitude, you just need to open up and feel.
My practice is inspired by the heartful tradition of Wooly Moss Roots, whose gratitude is contagious.
X.Aja
