This morning, I pondered a day full of tasks, the need to prepare and make ready for Christmas. The list was clearly longer than the possibility of working through it. It outlined dusting, vacuuming, floor-washing, cooking, fetching groceries, writing, and 4-legged-tending…I had better get to it!
But the sun was tickling the sky so mysteriously…my heart felt pulled to be on the trail with the canine 4-leggeds and my camera. Something told me that despite the list, I needed to be out there. I sighed, and decided to trust my intuition and enjoy the dawning of the day. The chores could wait.
Walking eastward into the sunrise was lovely, but it was when I turned back and saw what the sun was creating behind me that I stopped and understood that today, for me, the world’s beauty is gift enough. I can’t polish or scrub anything in my home to equal the value and pleasure of just walking outside and breathing the frosty air, observing the colors and the shifting light offered by the rising sun.
I still had chores to accomplish, but the cloud hanging over them had dissipated; they were easier to do when my outlook and breathing had been changed by our walk. Seasonal music, a mug of tea, and the work was finished in a lighter and more graceful flow than it would have been had I “buckled down” and tackled it first thing this morning.
G.K. Chesterton said, “A woman uses her intelligence to find reasons to support her intuition.” There may have been a time I’d have called that patronizing, but now I think it quite insightful of GK to recognize the gift of intuition and how much more facile women can be at honoring its power and blessedness. Mine has always been quite willing to speak up for herself, clearly and at a high volume, but I didn’t always listen as readily as I do now. Age has made me grateful for the gift and ability to listen when my intuition counters my will. She’s never let me down, and today she led me to another lesson:
Changing our perspective can be as easy as turning around and seeing the world from the sun’s point of view…
Blessing for the Year’s End
May we be content and at peace with ourselves,
And so with those we love.
May our presence be a blessing to the world:
Our gifts used to heal it;
Our laughter to fill it;
Our energy to protect its health;
Our creativity to partner with its beauty.
May we sift through our losses and find the treasures they yield.
May we have a grateful heart, which seeks and finds
The good, the blessing, the invitation, and the opportunity.
May we love those we love into being themselves, wholly and well.
May we listen to their spirits more than their words.
May we forgive ourselves and others;
May we learn from our hurts.
May we loosen ties that hinder our growing.
May we welcome the journey of transformation,
And lean into Love.
May we be kind. May we first and always be kind.
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