Have you ever stopped to ask yourself questions, maybe reflect on where you are at personally? When do you feel most fully alive? What is it that you do that feeds your soul?
Life happens and it happens fast. At times we are encouraged to think about the future, create vision boards, ask what it is we want for our tomorrow. Yet how often do we take a breath to think about what we want for today? How yesterday’s experiences can help us live better today and maybe make better choices for tomorrow?
Emily P Freeman has mentioned in various of her podcasts The Next Right Thing about the importance of reflecting. She reminds us to ask ourselves questions about the last thirty days before we move into the next thirty days. In her recent episode 133: Learn The Art of Asking Questions she mentioned a John Dewey quote that she’s used before, “we do not learn from an experience, we learn from reflecting on an experience.” While I can not claim to be faithful to practice this monthly I do try to incorporate times where I ask myself questions. What is feeding my soul right now? Where do I find myself most fully alive? What is draining life from me?
We do not learn from an experience,
John Dewey
we learn from reflecting on an experience.
This practice does not have to be complicated or fancy. Yet I find that the simple reflection on recent experiences, the asking of a few basic questions is helping me to find my best “yes” and “no” answers to how I spend my time. So today I thought maybe I would share with you a few of my favorite things. Things that feed my soul and help me feel most like me in the midst of the pandemic life. And maybe as I share you can begin to imagine your own list.
In Pandemic life these are a few things that are
life-giving, feeding my soul:
Early morning quiet space. Watching the sun begin to peek above the trees. Time for reflection and space to breathe. A quiet word with my friend Jesus.
The garden in full bloom. Plants filling the earth and while I am missing the tending of a vegetable garden this year, my potted herbs on the deck and weekly delivers of eggs and veggies from a friend still bring me a taste of the garden.
Early summer mornings sometimes muggy but not yet hot tending the butterfly garden, weeding in the stillness of a world not fully yet awake.
The oven pre-heating, music playing, wine glass poured. The chopping board holding work in process as food is prepped. My people all safely tucked a home, content in their own pursuits. Family dinner extended beyond the meal, both before and after. Calm, safe and warm space of being fully present in our home, not rushing out the door.
Long walks, sometimes alone, sometimes just me and the husband, others with boys joining in. Some of my best memories have been made by discovering new places with my people. While we have been unable to travel far, we can still leave the house and explore. Memories of hiking in Sedona, the Grand Cayon. Putting toes in the warm sand on beaches. Bundled up in the snow cold as I watch my boys learn to snowboard in Colorado where their grandfather was raised. The gift of time to simply be fully present together without distractions of everyday responsibilities and demands. These memories are made not just in the places we visit but in the space and time of stepping out of routine and being together.
Writing, putting thoughts into words. The simple expression of emotions I otherwise can struggle to capture.
While I miss teaching tiny humans…… I am energized in this season away by learning new things. Taking online classes, engaging in Facebook groups, Summits, Webinars, Newsletters in my in-box.
Parenting in a pandemic is not the easiest road and at times has been life-draining, yet it is also feeding my soul. Our tween and teen, they fight to find their independence. For this is the time they are just beginning to stretch their wings, yet those wings have been clipped. Stuck at home they fight their own personal pandemic journeys. In that journey, there are glimpses that their wings are growing stronger, more ready to take off when the time is right. Grace is extended, forgiveness given and received.
There are things in this pandemic that drain the life out of me, that weigh heavy on my heart. This space, today is not about those things. Today it is about the life-giving, soul-feeding moments.
When I am focused on noticing, reflecting, being present in the moments I find gratitude. And in gratitude, I find joy and hope for a today lived well and a better tomorrow.
@joy.marker
There will be another space and time to reflect on different questions. Today let us simply take a moment to ask ourselves.
What is it in the normal everyday routine of pandemic life that is feeding your soul?
