A breath for these tough times

Sending out extra wishes of Safety & Sanctuary for everyone in the path of the hard things, what a scary time we are in, inhaling and exhaling, for compassion, strength, courage, swift and steady miracles.

Also apologies that the comments were closed on last week’s post, thanks to everyone who alerted me and it’s all fixed now!

Announcement on Emergency Calming Down Techniques

I’ve been reeling hard lately in some cursed combination of heartache, numbness, political anxiety, winter stuff and some wild panic episodes.

Have been holding on (for dear life) to my Emergency Calm The Hell Down Techniques from a long time ago, and it’s been helping.

I am giving away a copy of these (ebook + audio recordings) to anyone who gives any sum of money to the appreciation funds / discretionary fund in the hopes that we can all keep practicing together, for each other and for the collective, and also for ourselves in these scary times. ❤️

108 Days of Fortification & Fortifications

A breath and a pause for acknowledgment of the scary scary times

Goodness. The scary, scary times keep getting scarier.

I am going to quote the always-excellent Sarah Weinman, because I was agonizing over not knowing what to say or how to start, and she just said everything on my mind that didn’t have words yet:

”We’re in the midst of it, upheaval and resistance and murders of ordinary citizens by the federal government and the demolishing of whatever was “normal” before, because there’s no going back. Hope, community, and the belief in the profundity of art? That’s all still there, more than ever.”

Yes to all of that. And, as always, acknowledging and breathing is the starting point; a starting point.

The power of the collective…

The power of the collective is such a big deal, and focusing on that gets me to stop spiraling over how nothing is ever enough.

Thanks to Amanda for sending me a good piece about exactly that called not in the streets still in the fight.

The way it landed in my brain is basically: someone has money to donate and someone can be in the streets and someone is the person they come home to who hugs them and makes them a hot beverage and someone listens and someone cooks and someone hexes, and we are all doing something even if that something feels inadequate.

It’s very easy for me to panic-spiral over all the ways I am not helping, and yet, life is life-ing and we are doing our small somethings and holding hope and listening and caring, and everyone doing a something adds up to a great whole.

Sourcing inspiration

I was glad to hear about a favorite spice company in Maine striking in solidarity.

And I was reassured when my old Portland (Oregon) yoga studio offered free classes, asked for food and clothing donations to local families impacted by ICE, and sent out an announcement that said WE KEEP US SAFE WE KEEP US STRONG:

”Come. Breathe, move, practice noticing and being together.
Let the medicine of movement and breath help you notice where you are so you can make clear choices about how to participate, what to do next.”

Another beautiful place to start.

An abundance of beautiful places to start

Here is a piece about Moon Palace Books in Minneapolis that gave me some oomph of something hope-adjacent.

And I also cried from both sadness and hope while reading this piece about the grandmothers in Argentina who tirelessly fought to find the missing children taken by the military there.

In times of horrific wrongs and tragedy, there are brave tough people helping and organizing, and it matters.

And speaking of the many places, options, paths and doors, opportunities to start and restart, to RESET RESTART and begin again…

If you have been reading and hanging out here for any period of time, you know that the 2nd of February is one of my favorite holidays.

A beautiful sparkling True New Years to anyone who celebrates

I love Groundhog Day for being a holiday of do-overs forever, which is really about POSSIBILITY and SHIFT and WHAT IS AVAILABLE TO US IN THIS NEW MOMENT, with a new breath..

And so I view the first six weeks of the new year as a sort of trial run or reconnaissance period for True New Years on February 2nd. A scouting expedition about my goals, wishes and intentions.

And just this week I learned that February 2nd is also the French holiday La Chandeleur where the return of brighter days is celebrated with crepes representing the sun. I am into any holiday that involves crepes.

And I am really into celebrating sunshine and golden light and a return of hope sparks, or if not hope sparks if they are not available, then maybe some grounded and glowing determination to bring some good into this world. Together.

Fortification

I was texting with my friend Kathryn about how, due to the last six weeks being eaten by a trauma I went through, I have not been doing my usual And Three Months Later experiment that usually begins at Solstice.

What about a 108 day adventure, I suggested. But it needs a theme.

And the theme that came up in this discussion was FORTIFICATION, which I love because it contains so many things at once.

Let’s fortify. Let’s layer on protections. Let’s gain in powers. Let’s regain our strength, our confidence, our motivation and sense of self. Let’s take good care.

The many-layered meanings of Fortification

Fortification like a fortress, like a buffer zone, like good boundaries and self-preservation, and coming back into your powers.

Fortification like nutrients and well-nourished.

Fortification like a blanket fort: calming, stabilizing, a place to hide out and be in a state of cozy comfort.

Fortification like extra layers of protection.

It’s all connected of course

Fortification is connected to my desire for all of us to stay warm, to keep vigilant, to help out in community and be part of the force of good warding off the horrors, together.

Fortification is related to my own personal recovery process after a trauma.

Fortification is connected to my wishes to spend more time in analog life, more time volunteering locally with the organizations I am a part of, more time in nature, more time focused on getting shit done.

Fortification is connected to my desire to return to being well-rested, motivated, clear, grounded and focused to the best of my ability.

Well-boundaried, well-fortified, well-cared for and able to care well and do my part.

Reset restart

I have not yet made crepes though I did bookmark some gluten-free dairy-free recipes.

In honor of my own personal New Years, I closed all the open tabs on my phone and tablet, baked a triple ginger apple cake, went to bed ridiculously early and slept for nearly ten hours.

I cleaned the bathroom in a symbolic gesture of Everything Counts and this does too.

Mainly I have been thinking about themes related to both the healing process and to learning about fortification, to having higher self-regard, to being active in community, and how these all interrelate.

And I initiated a glorious return to daily pasture walking, aka my “silly little walk for my silly little mental health”, after three weeks of neglecting to do the thing that helps most, getting outside.

What is next?

I am recommitting to the rituals and also to watch and see what is unfolding and how. I am on the lookout for the next indicated steps.

And I am doing what helps.

I wish I could invite you over for crepes. I wish I could walk a labyrinth closer to home. Wishing wishes is also a starting point. There is much to learn from the intimate and vulnerable process of naming a wish.

Vegetables into the oven to roast. Circles in the pasture. Helping out at the food pantry. Early to bed.

One step and then another one. May this new year reveal its magic while we keep fortifying and learning about fortifications. Vigilant, spark-filled, focused, alive. Let’s keep going.

How is your heart

How is your beautiful heart? How is the sanctuary space of your heart?

What fortifies you? What additional fortifications do you need to make sanctuary space within?

These are the questions I am absorbed in right now.

Absorbed, support, shelter, fortification

Another variation on this question….

What supports you in having space (physical, mental, emotional) to rest into some kind of stillness?

Or if stillness feels overwhelming right now then maybe to be held in soothing, comforting, repetitive movement patterns…

Here’s to all the powers of sheltering, sanctuary, support systems, fortifying, and fortifications, the rituals that hold us, the movements that soothe us, whatever is needed most.

May it be so, or something even better.

May it be so, or something even better

Here’s to choosing life and aliveness, and being here, even when it is so fucking hard (and often it is), and to learning about ourselves, and finding some sparks if we can, or staying receptive to future sparks if we can.

I love you, I love that you read my thoughts here, thank you for that. It means a lot to me.

Let’s source some wild joy, some loving clarity, or whatever is needed most, let’s play.