A Shift in Perspective

I am home from the weekend away. In the warm embrace of my faith community and friends I have known for decades, I exhaled, smiled, shed tears, and soaked up the spirit, which renewed me.

Weekend trips away help me vacate the details of regular life that often overwhelm and weigh me down. The problems or challenges don’t disappear, but I can see them from a different perspective and with the wisdom and encouragement of people I trust and value, but don’t see frequently enough. I appreciate being reminded that the challenging times I am supporting my daughter through are unique and ongoing. So much of grief work, especially that which is so often invisible is easy to dismiss or disregard. I am grateful for the pockets of conversation where my current challenges were named and honored.

I am in a season of multi-layered and interconnected transitions, and it felt energizing to have new ideas and possibilities emerging for me to ponder. I want to reimagine how I can spend my time and offer my home as a refuge as I continue to adjust to an empty nest.

In a text to friends I visited this weekend, I responded: Adventures, epiphanies, and who knows what else awaits! Every time I can face uncertainty with a spirit of adventure, I weather the unknown with more ease. I can do what life requires of me with a full cup. Mine is overflowing now.