What are you watering?

you used to juggle two different tasks while talking on the phone and taking your dog for a walk at the same time. It’s ok get up off the couch and not remember if you were wanting a glass of water or if you needed to go pee. You are likely sleeping less; remembering things is challenging.

2) Attempt to do something to ground yourself every day—whatever that is for you. Pause. Take a step outside and breathe deeply the fresh air, maybe three deep breaths if you can. Stretch, like really high trying to touch the ceiling or the sky. Walk in bare feet on the grass. It might be hard to concentrate, so start small.

3) Grief has no timeline. Well-meaning people might try to tell you ‘it’s been long enough’ or something similar to try to nudge you back to your happy place. Grief comes in waves. Even when we think we are through it, one picture, song, smell, movie, place, a word can bring a memory back. And we might smile or cry or do both. It’s okay. We all grieve our own way but the one thing I think everyone can agree on is that grief is hard.

End of Life Doula

outsideColouring the lines

Batteries installed, solution in place, we hit the power button and BUBBLES!

Bright, colourful, magical bubbles are pouring out of the new bubble machine, dancing through the air, making us smile and maybe even giggle!

Not more than a dozen steps onto the foot bridge on the trail, my partner and I stop completely still. Just a few feet in front of us two black-capped chickadees are flying face to face inches apart, nearly hovering in the air. We stand still, watching for several minutes as these two move in synchronicity, mirroring one another, before flying away. We smile in awe at this bit of wonder as we wander.

Donning my brand new helmet, I place my feet on the pedals of my brand new ebike and launch myself! As I pedal in and out of shade on the bike trail which takes me home from the bike shop, I hear myself saying, “yes! yes! yes!” Joy fills my entire being as I remember how much I love to ride, something I’ve been unable to do since injuring my knee several years ago! The gift of pedal assist makes this joy possible again!

“The quality of your life depends on the seeds you water,” says beloved Buddhist teacher Thich Nach Hahn. After a year of many challenges, I realized I was losing my joy for life, my joy for living, so this summer I’ve very intentionally been watering the seeds of joy!

Blowing bubbles, playing in area lakes with the grandchildren, hiking local trails, reading my favourite authors, and now biking!

Watering seeds until that moment when the joy just bubbles out of me on that bike trail.

The Book of Ecclesiastes tells us there is a season for everything: a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance…

I don’t read this as an either/ or, but as a both/ and, meaning there must be room in our lives for weeping AND laughing. Healthy living allows room for challenges, for grief and sorrow, for sadness, even for anger, along with happiness, kindness, laughing, dancing, joy!

My year of challenges included all those things, but in this season of summer I chose to water joy, to give it more room for growth, to nurture it to fruition. So far the harvest looks very promising!

What seeds are you watering? What wants to burst forth in your life? What needs room to emerge fully for you? If you are watering seeds of sorrow, sadness, or grief, then I pray you walk gently with yourself, giving space for all that these segments of our journey through life hold for us. If you are watering seeds of kindness, compassion, care for earth, care for others, or something similar, then I pray you find many different ways to water these beautiful gifts. And if you are watering seeds of hope, laughter, dancing and joy, then I pray your life bubbles over with these gifts so our world will be colour-filled and made more magical by what you offer!

Rev LeAnn Blackert works with Michele Walker, Lesly Comrie and Linda Clark in ministry with Wild Church in Kamloops, Sorrento and the Okanagan. She considers herself a seeker in her faith journey and wanders the wild world looking for the Great Mystery and the “wild Christ.” To find out more, visit wildchurchbc.org and be in touch!