I love the fall and its invitation to intentionally orient ourselves toward the spirit of gratitude as we move into the holiday season. We are often so busy bustling about our lives that the opportunity to stop and recognize the efforts of others and how they have touched and bettered our lives can easily slip by. November, with all its focus on gratitude, is a welcomed reminder of how much work goes on behind the scenes to facilitate our journey.
If you read this post last year, I invite you to take a moment to read this new iteration. Nearly all the names are the same, which makes me grateful for a stable and robust community of dedicated providers and educators. There has been so much change in the world as of late and knowing that our team remains committed is such a gift! As I said last year, if you have been touched in any way by the healing work at CML, these are the people who work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that you are well tended to on your path. The therapeutic healing at CML would not be possible if not for the efforts of our gifted clinical staff: Pamela Mueggenberg, Kara Cavel, Marilyn Erickson, and Hillary Rubesin, who create loving spaces for difficult work and provide compassionate support for the weary human traveler. I particularly want to recognize the generous community members who help us sustain our Mindfulness programming. A few dedicated souls have been helping to support our amazing Mindfulness Instructor, Laura Crosby, to whom I owe so much gratitude and respect. Thank you to Aaron Weiner, Ashima Mehta, Katie Hupp, Sue Nardie, and the wonderful Dan Weidner. All of these folks dedicate their time and efforts to create a safe space to explore and deepen practice. If you have not participated in one of Laura’s programs, joined her as she facilitated a sit, a retreat, or the mindfulness study group, then you have missed compassion and generosity of spirit in action. We are blessed by the numerous gifts each of these folks share with our community. And there are those whose work is more behind the scenes but whose contributions allow our community to thrive and grow. Christina Murphy, works as our marketing and social media Goddess, bringing you this newsletter every month and keeping the CML community connected and informed. Thank you to Alma and Carmen, who keep our space so beautifully for us, and to Blake who makes sure that we don’t trip and break something of import on the ice. At the center of the CML mission is, of course, you, the curious and courageous human traveler, seeking to know yourself better and find your way to sharing your own gifts in the world. We would not be here if not for you and it is to you that I express my deepest gratitude. Your support continues to remind us that we can travel so much farther together than on our own. I hope that in the coming year, you will continue to find yourself on our doorstep, in our virtual spaces, on our cushions, and in the presence of your own magnificent, vibrant gifts. Your ongoing willingness to share so meaningfully of yourselves allows each of our journeys to be enriched. In this season of gratitude, a heartfelt ‘Thank You” for making our community a space of inclusivity, healing, and peace. Blessings on your journey, Louisa
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How tender we are. How vulnerable and fierce it is to live the human experience. How much courage it takes to live this fragile life fully.
The past few days, I’ve found myself in something of a melancholy. I think there is some unexpressed grief trying to find voice. Or perhaps it is just my turn to move through the cycle of sadness that we must all dance through as the days of living pass. I notice my brain wanting to create a narrative, to manufacture a reason for my mood. Have I been disappointed by someone? Has my ego been bruised by recent events? Have I internalized the tragic events occurring in the world? Perhaps I am lost in the sorrow of memory as we put together our family altar for the upcoming honoring of the dead? Maybe. Maybe not. I am trying for now, just to stay in the moment. Trying to let the feelings move through me and give them the necessary space to work whatever healing magic is needed. I am sitting with these uncomfortable feelings, leaning into them, creating space around them, knowing that they do not signify anything dangerous or threatening. They are not to be dealt with, or to be distracted from. They are simply evidence that I am alive, breathing, and connected with the world. This is not easy work. And I write of it only because these human experiences are all too normally borne in silence and isolation. We do not talk about our sadness, as if it signifies a moral failure or a character flaw. But if we do not share these challenging experiences of being human, we risk falling prey to the curated social media expressions of what is it to be human. Then, I fear that we are no longer living a human life…. We are performing a human life. Today, I am sad. Welcome sadness. What are you here to teach me? Blessings on your journey, Louisa postscript: In a bit of synchronicity, I wrote these thoughts of sadness before reading the article that Hillary shared for our feature below. There is something so resonant and healing in this kind of mirroring. Thank you, Hillary for your vulnerability. It is always a good reminder that we are human together. |
AuthorLouisa has always enjoyed writing and is thrilled that she now has a way to share her musings with a larger community of like-minded seekers. Her writing is often an extension and exploration of the struggles she faces in integrating her own spirituality, scholarly study, life experience, and nuggets of brilliance from her teachers in the hopes that it might alchemically transform itself into something approximating wisdom. Archives
January 2024
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