I seem to have so much going on each month, that I am challenged to slow down and savour the moments. I fill my time up so full of life that I forget to ‘smell the roses’ as they say. April was supposed to be a month of mindfulness and I learned a few things - as I always do.
First of all, being mindful requires time to do just that - BE. I am not one to slow down very often and just be, though I can see how doing this more would have huge benefits. I get things all planned out to follow through on my year long challenge of a theme for each month, and then life grabs my attention and then Boom. Time is filled up with obligations, distractions, and challenges.
Love, Peace and New Beginnings
April was full of love, some peace, new beginnings and connections. It also became the beginning of big changes in my life as the twenty year old child informed me that they were ready to head out into the world on their own and get ready for post secondary education in a DIFFERENT province. At this point in May, I just dropped them off at the airport and cried my goodbyes as they boarded a plane to head to the city to stay with good friends of mine. I hope the summer job plan works out and that the start of post secondary education in the autumn is smooth and has ease and flow to it.
April, my birth month, and my child’s birth month, had such promise of peace and tranquility. I had hoped to write some guided meditations (that didn’t happen), to be mindful about eating (which was partially successful), and exercise (ha - what is THAT, I maybe got ten little walks in). I was successful in clear communication with my partner and my child. We spoke of many difficult things, and we tested boundaries and challenged emotions. I was pretty mindful about the communication part of the situation.
BIRTHDAYS!
I had a lovely birthday - in quarantine, I did NOT have COVID thank goodness, but the child was not so lucky. I did get to celebrate a secondary special day WITH the child on the day before their birthday, which was lovely. We had a meal in a lovely little Inn - The Garrison House Inn, where they catered our dishes to suit us as picky vegetarians (and there was free dessert). My partner ordered the most amazing bouquet of flowers from a local gardener - it was so beautiful, he also gave me a barometer which I am learning to use to help track my headaches.
The child’s birthday was lovely as well, with handmade goodies from little Etsy stores. One of which is the perfect little book tote for bus rides in the city - we added an annotating kit to it and a few of our bookmarks (available on OUR Etsy shop) to make it the perfect travel companion. There were a few
zero waste goodies - and one of the shops added a free key fob in a sweet cat print.
I continue to connect with my client a few times a week - and they are progressing beautifully (though there was a fall and broken bone one weekend - which threw us a bit off). I am regularly amazed at how they are coping and persevering through the very difficult challenge of brain damage. I made a superhero picture for them in black and white to go with the decor in their new home. I had such fun putting it together, so I made a different one for the child with one of their favourite characters from The 100.
Retreat Day - Was a BUST!
I tried to end the month on a positive note with a retreat. I even got the food thing FINALLY sorted. Then it all fell flat and I couldn’t get into the day with any peace. I did connect with my child as they were preparing for the big move into the great big world on Retreat Day, but I did not take enough time to just BE. Apparently, getting the food part sorted threw everything off - so maybe I will not push myself so hard around being so planned and allow things to land where they are supposed to.
I successfully continue to connect by Zoom with my friend from Alberta and we are so amazing at helping each other process and sort through our challenges. They are such a lovely blessing in my life, for which I am utterly grateful. I also successfully continue to write in my journal five days each week - sometimes all seven. I also have started writing morning pages a few times a week and I am finding a lot of gunk is getting stirred up so I can process it. A good thing to deal with and get sorted so each time it comes up again it is a bit smaller.
While these things do not necessarily fall under the mindful umbrella, they certainly help me be more mindful. As I learn and grow, and bring myself into Alignment with my highest good, I find these little things have brought me through time with more ease and flow. I respond with more grace as I face the next THING, whatever it may be.
How about you?
I would love to hear how this landed for you. Did it bring you to reflect on your own life? Did you compare pieces of it and find things that you want to try? Or maybe things that would not work for you? I love to hear from you.
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