10 Sep Onward with Grit and Grace

Almost six month check in everyone. How are we really doing? I go through so many emotions throughout the day if I’m honest that this question almost drives me crazy when asked, but I get it. We’re all trying to be real and empathetic when asking the question but, it’s just plain hard.
This morning I saw a post by one of my favorite spiritual authors, Sue Monk Kidd, who shared Mary Oliver‘s poem, “The Uses of Sorrow,“ in which appears the haunting image of a box of darkness and it simply reads: “Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.” It resonated. It feels like we’ve all been given ‘boxes of darkness’ during our lives- loss, grief, sickness, disasters- hello and goodbye 2020!
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I’m pretty good about not dwelling but my box has been rough…the loss of my beloved companion of 13 years Cooper, the delayed launch of so many B\YND Well plans M and I have been plotting and working our butts off for, goodbye to the idea of financial stability, so much illness and job loss amongst friends and well then there was the direct tornado hit here in Nashville pre-Covid and seeing the loss firsthand amongst the victims and families I’ve come to know and serve.

But it does bring me to think of the slivers of light I have seen too…I gained a new fur baby, Atticus, who himself is a tornado survivor but his owners lost their jobs too in all this so they did the right thing and surrendered him to a home where he will be well loved and taken care of but it makes me sad for them so lots of prayers have been sent their way. This domestic life I never really had because I was always working and traveling now has made me appreciate the mundane routines and find myself grateful for the tidy home I’m keeping up with and cooking healthier meals for my little family and friends. I find myself praying and meditating while doing dishes and laundry, anyone else?
So I guess in six months time, I can honestly say I’m still learning moment by moment to sit with the unknowns and just be alright with that. My type A personality doesn’t have to will things to be different or move at a faster pace as if I could anyway. I just have to accept the losses with the gains, with gratitude for the gift that it is and can be.

So onward with lots of grace and grit friends,
Sherri