I’m excited and humbled to begin this spiritual work with you and with the five dear colleagues who will be helping you to navigate and draw nourishment from the next four weeks together. I welcome you with gratitude and a shehecheyanu.
I sit here in my study in Western Massachusetts, quiet, peaceful, only the sound of cars going by, lush green outside the windows, poppies beginning to miraculously unfold in my little garden. I blink in disbelief that it is June, 2021. We share the reality that we have survived. Some of the vast costs of this plague time are already known to us, others I suspect will continue to emerge over months and years. I try to imagine what pandemic and quarantine have been for you, your loved ones, your communities. To imagine where you are, what you have heard and seen, what you have mourned and still mourn, what new life, hope, justice, freedom you have been blessed to witness, work to birth and grow. Some of you are old friends of mine, many unknown to me – together, over the course of the next four weeks, we’ll be exploring ever-widening circles of our lives. It’s like davening in a minyan – each of us on our own, and then in small circles tenderly offering companionable energy to the others.
In these weeks there will be time to expand, to reflect, to find words, to remember the year which is coming to an end, the events and people who were most important, to look back on them and puzzle out, discern – What happened? Who was I in that moment? How did I turn that moment for the good? Or not? What needs attention, perhaps healing, in my life, in my closest relationships, in the circles of my worlds? There will be time to look inward and time to look outward – How am I living in my body? Who am I in my community/ies, who do I want to be? Do my day to day actions, occupations, reflect my values, encourage my passion? How am I engaged in the larger world? What do I want to give, how do I want to help and participate in a wider healing? Prompts aplenty – tackle no more than one a day, please!
This first week centers on the self – when do I feel most alive? How have I been challenged and grown this year? How do I cultivate my inner life? engage in self-care?
And so, we begin!
A few suggestions –
If you possibly can, write by hand, even if that feels very unfamiliar to you – computers go quickly, quickly, they are cerebral instruments; this writing is all about slowly, slowly, opening the flow from heart to hand. Please try, but if it just won’t work for you, feel free to use your laptop.
When you are sitting with the prompt, listen carefully. This writing is all about listening – listening to yourself.
Often the first response that comes to mind is the most fruitful. Just relax and go with it even if you think it is odd.
As you write, capture as clearly and precisely as you can what is true for you – no artifice, no disguises.
Be specific, concrete; better to tell one story and go deep with it than to generalize or to skim over multiple examples.
Be on the lookout for strong images that come up, meaningful details. Be curious; follow the image and explore it even if you don’t quite understand why it’s important or where it is going.
Write in your first language; that is the best way to make a heart-connection through words.
Once you are done writing, take a breath, read what you have written. Do not criticize or judge – these are words from your heart that need to be valued, cherished and respected.
You may want to write down any questions that the writing has sparked for you. You can return to those questions at another time for reflection and/or for continued writing.
In some way, acknowledge to yourself the courage and openness you have brought to this work.
Prompts for Week 1
1~ Recall a particular situation, conjure an image of a time this past year when your best, fullest self was being expressed. Maybe it was a public moment, an achievement, a story of risk or leadership, or maybe it was something small, subtle, a private moment only you were aware of, something shifting deep inside… Tell the story, describe the situation, letting the details return to you in all their fullness….
[This is a good prompt to return to, exploring another, different story, and then another.]
follow-up – Now reflect on why/how the best part of you came out in that situation. What did you do to make that happen? Were there other people or conditions that supported that flowering? How might you call forth that more fully realized, enlivened “you” more frequently in the coming year?
[We too often torment ourselves by playing and replaying the loops of failures, shortcomings, should-haves and what-ifs; dare yourself to cultivate instead the practice of playing/replaying shining moments of stretching and soul-soaring.]
2~ Begin a conversation with yourself – What do I need? What are the longings I have been forced to silence, quiet, repress in this difficult year? How can I move toward a healthier, holier, happier life? What are some of the questions I want to be attentive to, want to be asking myself as I move toward the season of turning?
3~ What has been one particular challenge/sorrow/heartbreak this year? If you can, if you choose to, gently open it and record it, write it down, for yourself. What happened? What was so hard? How has this experience changed you? Have you grown? how? What new aspects or potentiality has it called forth from you? Have you begun yet to heal? What would healing look like? What/who might help with that healing? Can you imagine/are there others who might help you to create a ritual, who might witness and support your moving toward peace?
[Please, choose and focus on just one story: if it feels helpful to you, you can respond to this prompt more than once.]
4~ How have you cared for yourself this year? While that has been much harder for many of us to arrange, commit to, follow through, it has perhaps never before been as crucial. What kinds of activities have you still been able to savor? Think expansively: it might be a time when you went walking on a nature trail, tried finger-painting, did a good job of saying “no.” How did you manage it? How did it feel? Or, describe how you allowed yourself a special afternoon or day or days to relish some longed-for place or time or experience.
follow-up – Make a list of all the ways you nourish yourself – things you do every day, things you do sometimes, rarely. Read your list over, notice what you’d like to increase. What is your attitude toward self-care and what kinds of self-care are you hungry for?
5~ How did you live in your body this year? Are there ways in which your body has been a source of delight? disappointment? strength? pain? Tell the story. What do you need moving forward?
Note - My intention for this program is to offer you a wide menu from which to choose, so if one of these prompts feels like “a full-course meal” all by itself, give yourself permission to spend the week delving into that one particular prompt, gleaning what you need. In other words, make yourself at home and use these materials as is best for you!
Blessings to you on your journey!