Dear Friends,
It’s the last Sunday of April, an extra one as a gift of the calendar before we transition to May tomorrow. May 1st is honored as Beltane in the Celtic tradition, celebrating the mid-point between the start of spring and the Summer Solstice and it’s also May Day, marked across the world for worker’s rights. If you work an 8-hour day instead of a 16-hour one, pause and honor the brave workers who fought to make that so for us (knowing it’s not the case for too many people, still).
Through the month of April, we’ve explored the theme of Awakening in different ways. Inspired by John O’Donahue, I invited you to notice, sense and feel what was happening in your outer landscape. Then I shared about how moments of awakenings can be small and humble, like my experience sitting on my Mom’s memorial bench and watching a bee; we might miss them if we’re metaphorically dozing or distracted. I showed you the real bridge that I discovered by accident and invited us to awaken to bridges of connection around us. And last week, with springtime awakening in full force around me, I offered a prompt about leaning into beauty and awe.
For folks who are new here to ‘Journey With The Seasons,’ the final Sunday of the month features a guided meditation. This practice helps many people to visualize and get in deeper contact with their imagination, but if it doesn’t connect with you, no worries.
This guided meditation, inspired by the words of Rumi posted above, is a journey to a place of beautiful awakening, a kind of garden sanctuary. What you discover there may be a full sensory experience of scents and color and touch. The key to the sanctuary, as Rumi reminds us, is inside of you. If you aren’t into guided meditation, go right to the prompt below. If you’d like to listen now, click the arrow at the top of the page.
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.
When you imagined the sanctuary, what did you see?
Describe the colors, sounds, sensations of that place.
How did your body feel there? What happened to your heart rate? What tensions and fears softened?
What kinds of awakenings, thoughts or feelings did you discover—inside or outside of you? What do you want to remember from that journey?
*If you did not listen to the guided meditation, try this prompt:
Describe a place that feels like a sanctuary to you. It may be an actual sanctuary, a place or nature or other place where you take refuge. Describe its outer landscape and how you feel when you’re in that place.
Please comment or email me at gabriellekm@gmail.com with any writings or reflections that you’d like to share with me or the community.
Deepening Practice:
Write a thank you note to a sign or symbol of spring or of beauty or of peace that you experienced in the meditation or that you have encountered in your real sanctuary. It could be a a bird, the wind, the scent of lilac, a piece of music, a pew. Tell your symbol everything that you love and appreciate about them.
Word of mouth is what’s growing this community! Every time that you share a post on social media or send it to a friend, it supports my work exponentially. Thank you!
The place inside of me within my sanctuary is a place of gentleness. I just finished my journey where I sat. This place of peace held me with a concrete seat. I felt I was in a cemetery. Interesting the word cement. Thank you for the meditation.