It’s been three years since our last blog entry. Rest assured, we’ve kept busy navigating ever the winding road(s) of life’s journey.
Whether you're in mid summer or mid winter, we are all at mid-year, and this is a beautiful time to take stock of where we've been, where we are, and where we are going.
7:16pm. I pause a moment, revelling in how cathartic it was to get out all of the above. My fingers haven’t stopped moving since they started. If you ever wonder if something is worth pursuing, see if you can drop into it for 18 minutes without distraction. Watch this space.
These are a few of my musings from the last four weeks or so. It’s a journey, and if I’m honest it feels a little strange to be writing en route, rather than upon reaching a destination. But here we are. And I think that’s probably the best place for us to meet – right here, where we are. As we are.
We’ve shared copious cups of tea together. We’ve taken long walks together in beautiful places. We’ve curled up on cozy couches and exchanged long messages from the heart. We’ve swapped thoughtful gifts of all kinds, and they’ve championed my efforts when I’ve fundraised for various projects. I sure do love my soul mamas.
When you take a moment to pause, to sit quietly with yourself, what beckons you? Maybe it’s a “gentle nudge” or perhaps it rings loud and clear. Whatever it is, even before you’ve given voice to it, I urge you to listen to it, nurture it, let it grow. If it comes from the heart, it can’t help but take expression in a truly beautiful form.
I’ve been thinking about the importance of sharing, and the inevitable gift of mutual blessing when we share from the heart. The emails, texts, and messages you’ve left on our posts have let us know that what we share here is resonating and finding its way from our hearts to yours. In turn, we find ourselves heartened as we see this process of sharing becoming a beautiful gift for many. That’s the essence of Hearth, to find home as heart meets heart.
One week and the freedom of four wheels and 1,500 kilometers of narrow, winding roads. A tent stashed in the back, a nose for the nearest ice cream stop, and a playlist of sing-your-heart-out tunes to keep me company. No set plans, just a makeshift map of recommended and repeat places I was itching to visit.
My dog’s taught me a thing or two during our year and a half together, and she happens to be super clued in to what really counts in life. Utilizing what I think must be the most beautiful teaching style: a calm, gentle manner, clear directives, and incredible consistency, she’s been the one training me.
The farm embodies hearth in its gentle way of restoring the soul, grounding me in the soil beneath my soles with gratitude for all that it provides. Slowing me down so that I can hear the birdsong and take notice of the garden as it’s growing. It’s an idyllic way of being and it’s tough work, too, reminding me that good things take time, nurturing, and a whole lot of sweat. Their “come one, come all” hospitality manifested the tender comfort and genuine kindness that define home in its truest sense.
Used by both the Māori and Pākehā (European) people of New Zealand, Kia Kaha is expressed as an affirmation, stay strong. The term of encouragement encapsulates great strength, mental and spiritual positive energy, challenge, courage, determination, skill, effort, and endurance. It is to acknowledge the journey more so than the destination.
Making mental and handwritten lists of all the wonderful, unexpected ways my needs have been cared for, the conversations sparked in coffee shops and checkout lines, the invitations to events I wouldn’t otherwise know about, the birds that never stop singing. These are the moments that make it all worthwhile, and far outweigh the moments of wondering and worrying. When I’m feeling thankful, I open up to possibility and I know that’s when things start coming together.
Life is a series of moments. All we have in this moment is, well, this moment. So often we are compelled to believe there’s something better coming in a future moment, leaving us less satisfied with the moment we’re in. Instead of acknowledging that we are living, breathing, thinking, dreaming, loving, being right here, right now, we place our chances for current contentment on hold in search of something better.
