I've been out of commission and very quiet on the writing front for a while now.  I had my second hip replacement surgery in February (the first having been in July of 2019) and a delay in return to work in March with COVID-19 shutdowns. The fear and loss of life has weighed heavily on me, as with everyone and the continued uncertainty of just about everything in the world as we know it looms large. These and some personal changes have given me pause to reflect on everything and the usual forward momentum that I feel has been slowed by the accompanying heaviness with this introspection and I will admit that motivation has been in short supply (something I rarely have had issue with).

It's funny how when faced with stretches of time that are unstructured your mind goes down these paths of exploration that normally go unnoticed in the busy-ness of routine. One of the things that came up for me was the chance to take a look at my spiritual practice and path and how the past 30+ years have molded my current work. I also realized that I have been missing the unmistakable feeling when everything is new, undiscovered and exciting. So, I decided to take a walk down memory lane and take the time to re-member those things that filled me with the power of newness as a tonic, if you will, of much needed joy and inspiration.......

 I think it is human nature to get stuck in the complacency of routine. There is a certain comfort and ease in just settling into whatever your experiences are. And, then something new comes along and we have choice of whether to pursue and see where the path takes us or remain comfortably cloistered in what we already know to be true. For me, this question is particularly important this time of the year and with the bounty of the First Harvest-Lammas close at hand. And, this year's harvest is especially potent in helping me decide what to take into my being as sustenance and gratitude, what I will hold aside for future partaking and what to allow to decay as compost for the another cycle of regeneration. 

This return to newness and taking in the bounty is reaped by these questions (and more)...

Do you remember the first time you learned that there were others who craved the wisdom of the old ways? Do you remember the first time you walked in the forest and felt the bubbling up of tiny butterflies of energy signaling resonance with that space? Do you remember the first Goddess that spoke to you; not in words, but in the overwhelming love that encompassed all of your being, simply in hearing Her name or seeing an image? Do you remember going to your first ritual or festival and knowing you had come home? Do you remember the first time you truly felt the energy of an awakening to your place in the greater world and heard the echo of your footsteps upon a path you had walked before?

Each answer becomes the blade of wheat in a field abundant with life-giving grain. Each answer fills the cornucopia of harvest to overflowing and I know that the food for my soul's work is plentiful and my spiritual path is graced by its resiliency.  I also know that this is not a quick fix for what is crowding in around national and global events, but I have found relief in putting in the work. Just as a physical harvest is only as successful as the amount of work that is offered to the cutting, clearing and storing, so too this exercise of re-membering and moving from complacency to intention requires that I work at "change" actively offering gratitude and remaining open in receptivity. 

This is my work of the Harvest. This is the truth of my inactivity. This is my inspiration to see with fresh eyes, new perspective and reap the renewal of myself from what is from my past.