Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are nearing. A woman shared with me that she is no longer religious, but the memories of walking to temple, having family and friends gather, feeling a bond, singing together, and the predictable discomfort of the heat, all flood in, vibrantly. A part of her wants that again and another doesn’t want to make the effort because she feels she no longer lives temple life.
Isn’t it common how we compartmentalize feelings and longings? We make rules of what is and isn’t acceptable. After deeper conversation, she also felt she didn’t want to sit in temple and miss her mom and her dad, her uncle and her cousins, and her children, that are far away and may not be going to temple in their hometown. Feelings flooded in vibrantly.
Vulnerability. She had been in worker mode where rarely did sentiment and the unknown sit at her desk. We actually laughed how a yearly ritual, HIGH HOLIDAYS, that will always be on the calendar, thank goodness, effortlessly, open a not so visited part of one’s self. LOVE and LOSS. “Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. “Elizabeth Barret Brown, poet.
Memories are a precious treasure which includes tears. You can feel them and then take those fallen petals and tuck them in your pantry. They make a very sweet challah.
However you decide to honor your HIGH HOLIDAYS, this year, whether in temple or being in nature, lighting candles, praying at home, bringing in traditional foods like matzo ball soup, brisket, carrot tsimmes, noodle kugel, and macaroons, may you celebrate your ancestors, family, friends, and YOURSELF, for all the good and all the growth in you and them, as well as, the I AM SORRY. Honor your life and those who are and were part of your circle. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, a collective ritual, allows your heart to be held, mend, and fold as you sip from a cup of sweetness and sorrow, grateful to simply be here for another turning of the seasons. May you embrace your gems and your flaws, and keep dreaming.
Take care,
Natalie
Natalie Caine M.A.
Life In Transition, What’s Next?
Empty Nest Support Services
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