Honoring Self, Earth & One Another
Finding sacred signs, symbols & metaphors in your life
Dear Friend,
Did you catch the eclipse last Monday? Pause from work? Pack up and travel hours aways to catch the fullest glimpse you could?
I read nature writer Annie Dillard’s essay Total Eclipse (that’s a gift link for you if you wanna read it) and imagined the awe that a journey to see one could inspire.
Around 2pm on Monday, my husband and I broke from work and joined a neighborhood festival, organized by a friend who’s an astronomy buff and brings folks together to stargaze with his telescopes.
It was a cloudy day in Philly but everyone was still excited to look into the sky.
I did not end up looking at the eclipse at all. I asked my husband to describe what he was seeing.
For 42 years, I have worked my tail off to keep my body healthy despite having a non-functioning pancreas and sometimes that effort bumps against different desires, like seeing an eclipse, but my defiant instinct to survive generally prevails.
One of the complications of Type 1 diabetes is retinopathy which can lead to blindness. I go to see Dr. W., a retina specialist, every six months. He monitors the changes in the blood vessels in my eyes. One of the tests I do there is to look into a dark machine and click a clicker when I see little bursts of lights that appear then vanish. They look like star bursts. The test indicates how much peripheral vision I have.
When I sit in Dr. W’s chair and he tells me that the results of the test look good, no changes since last time, that is my eclipse. To play with a metaphor (and capture the corniness of last week’s number one Spotify play!), that moment is my total eclipse of the heart.
I know it’s extremely rare to burn your retina looking at an eclipse with the right kind of glasses on, but I don’t play with my eyes.
My eclipse glasses though–I’m keeping them! They are now a symbol of my own kind of sacred experience, my moment of planetary awareness. My gratitude for love, for community, for positive energy, for my commitment to care for my self in all of the ways.
This month, we’re writing about our connections to life on this sacred earth. Writing helps us to notice, remember, discover.
What moments made you feel alive, inspired and connected to our earth this past week?
Let’s write into signs, symbols & metaphors of those moments.
Psst…If you know someone who might like to write with us, invite them to join us.
Writing Practice: Set aside 5-7 minutes for this practice. Write in a journal or open a ‘Journey with The Season’ document where you can return each Sunday.
Prompt: Take a few breaths. Get comfortable. Write out a list of moments from this week when you felt connected to or inspired by life…your life or the life of the planet. It might involve a relationship, something you experienced in nature or a discovery within yourself.
Look over your list. Notice which moment draws your attention the most. Go with that one.
Describe it using sensory details–what you saw, felt, touched, heard. What was evoked inside of you.
Notice if there is a symbol (like my eclipse glasses) that might remind you of this moment. Describe your sign or symbol.
You could also play with a metaphor to capture the moment.
I’d love to read your responses. Comment below or use the new ‘message’ feature.
Deepening Practice: As you enter this new week, take a moment each day to notice what made you feel connected to life here on earth. Jot those things down and if you have time, write more about that connection.
Wishing you a week full of sacred connections. With love, Gabrielle Ariella
Hey friends! I’m so excited to teach this upcoming series for Ritualwell.
Writing a spiritual autobiography helps you to discover how teachers, touchstones, symbols and stories have led you to make meaning and understand the sacred in your personal story. Map out and narrate your most meaningful life experiences.
This series is open to everyone, of all faith traditions! I will share texts by Jewish writers as touch points but whether you have a particular faith tradition or not, this experience will be inclusive for you.