My reminder to you and myself…
Make the time to refresh so you can endure whatever comes your way. What does refresh mean to you?
I have been drinking more hot chocolate with pumpkin spices and simply sitting, not reading, not thinking. I still practice taking deep breaths and closing my eyes. I bundle up and get outside noticing all the colors and how big the brown and yellowish fig leaves are that drop, leaving the tree empty. I like that look.
My daily practice, for years, is to ask, how am I feeling and what do I need right now. It works for me. It has become automatic like brushing my teeth. I like feeling connected with myself and getting into the moment. If I don’t ask me, who will? If I don’t get here now verses reviewing how Thanksgiving went or what I want to do to decorate for the holidays, I am not refreshing myself. What practices do you do?
Beauty makes me feel vibrant and grateful. I move things around in each room and take away more than leave out, as I go room to room. I like open spaces. I am growing paper whites and amaryllis, stunning and unpredictable as far as when they will bloom and how long their beauty will fill the room. I like to photograph the stages. I do it every year.
I play more music and less television. I love bowls, baskets, and blankets and candles. I fill empty vases with greenery from the yard. I leave books on the tables, some poetry or photography or a child’s story like Olivia.
– I have water in a bowl with a floating flower.
– If my office gets over loaded with notes, research books, and papers, at the end of the day, – I put them in a basket so my space looks organized and I don’t feel overwhelmed with the to do’s of work life. Fresh branches from our eucalyptus tree or cut rosemary from the back yard bush fills a vase in my office and always a candle for focus, calmness, or prayer.
– I love paper and pens. I switch photos for inspiration and memories.
– Yes, I talk to myself…good job, Natalie. I know you didn’t want to do that but sometimes you have to do things you don’t like.
Refresh before the next holiday by getting to know more about yourself and treating yourself very well. I thought I was good at refreshing until the other day when I was so exhausted and feeling lonely. I realized I needed to stop and have no responding time and emptiness to my day and evening.
What will you do to refresh before the next holiday?
Take good care,
Natalie
natalie@emptynestsupport.com
Los Angeles 818-763-0188
Natalie Caine, M.A. natalie@lifeintransition.org
Good timing. I can relate to your sense of pending “Grandmotherness”. In the past, there was no time for such thoughts. Now, those fleeting thoughts are more real. Thanks for your compassion. Dina