Come down from the loft! Yep. I did literally. I just came down from the loft at my place where I usually write my ponderings. Now sitting here at the dining table (another fav place of mine), staring out at the sun coming in through the window (dirty window with mini handprints….granddaughter. WHAT!!!!) Yeah yeah, Karen. Get the windex out and clean it. The joys of being a Rara grandparent.
Ouuuuweeee! What a morning to be out and about! It is spectacularly delightful with the sun peeking over the horizon cascading once again (sunshine started yesterday) and its brilliance laying claim upon the frozen seashore, nearby fields and sides of the road as I walked the dawn of morn. Self-care. Right? So glad I found a mask in my coat pocket (yes it is clean) as it came in handy to stave off the brisk cold wind from the north. I am not into that whole ‘breathe in and breathe out’, allowing the cold brrr air to roll around in my lungs. I’ll leave it to the diehards and crazies. But the beauty around me….aahh. Simply joyous. Although I did feel a wee bit of warm. Nah. Kidding.
Oddly enough while walking, I was contemplating searching for an overflowing waterfall, sinking into its depths while surrounded by its warmth…to wash away whatever and then nourish the inner being. Calm the waters within…my spirit. Part of taking care of the ‘me’ (and the ‘you’) is tending to the soul, the innermost self. It struck me that it is Lent too, a time for reflection and preparation, letting go or taking on of something. Jesus walked in the desert for a long time, tempted and prodded, but never falling to the guise of distractions. So what does that say to me. How to nourish and feed the living waters, allowing the stream of life to flow within, calm and peaceful from the daily narrowing allure of the ‘don’t touch’.
Oh to go to a spa. I’m not really into spa’s per se but maybe I do not know what I am talking about. I mean they have mud baths. Right? Well, holy lightning the idea of sinking deep into mud….are you kidding me?! NO. Been there done that. Yeah. You got it. Childhood memory. I was a little girl, maybe 4 or 5, and my dad said I rolled around with the pigs in the pigpen of his uncles farm in New Brunswick way back when. Scarred for life. No thanks. I love the Maritimes but some memories can stay in the past. Seriously though, what can help to nourish the spirit….make you feel freeing. For me it is water.
Something about it is so life-giving. I was bathing my granddaughter in the sink last week because I do not have a tub and she is playing away. While watching her, she gets so preoccupied with the water and the suds. Naturally, she turns on the faucet (because it is right and Rara did not bring extra towels for being the curious little one she is), allowing the water to flow through her fingers which spontaneously spreads wide, drenching me (even little fingers can do that). She just looks and looks and then a most precious gift comes…a smile crosses her face. Is she nourished? Oh yes. Oh yes.
I know I await the spring to come, where the water will gently come in to the shore and I can stand while it brushes softly against my toes. Or the wondrous loud crashing on the rocky shore as I sit or stand, allowing the spray of the waves upon the rocks to hit me square in the face. Breathtaking and crazy feeling. But it reaches down deep in me, a purity that calms me, holds me, washes me….awakens the restless soul recessed deeply to the core of my being. But hey that is not to be as yet. So today or tomorrow I travel seeking a babbling brook, released from the confines of the hidden winter, to stand still…..listening as the life giving water fills me. Because I am not going to turn the tap on in the sink at home for it wastes water and frankly, if I turn on the tap…I will have to go to the washroom. Takes away the whole ambiance right now. Eew. For some reason listening or being near the water in the outdoors does not do that. Funny that.
Where oh where is a babbling brook? Little water fall? Trickling stream? Oh where oh where can it be? Searching for what brings me to a calm, breathing life back in….maybe it comes from being baptized, a renewing promise to self that is at the root of the water’s importance to me. I do not know. Mystery. But whatever it is, it is bigger than me for it grounds and fills me at the same time. Grateful in gratitude.
So today, imminent storm not withstanding, I will begin my trek. Although I am really having a senior moment right now. For I have to say as I came back from town today (had to stop pondering to do life; you know how it is), the body of the St. Lawrence on the north shore was beautifully displayed beyond the fields and smattering of cottages as I crested the hills….bluer than blue, sky clear and sun shining whitely on the ice and snow covered waters with just a few spaces showing deep blue water. Oh yeah. I guess that is my calming water for today. Trek tomorrow.
Undertake whatever you know about you and treat yourself, nourishing in bountiful revelation to feel good. Remember the most important person to keep your promises to is you today. Woo to the hoo. Blessings.
Let us pray for those who are in need of our prayers today and way to help them be spiritually nourished.
Karenpondering 