The Beginning Has Been Quietly Forming: A Grounding for the New Month
Sheri Lynn Fella
As a part of my meditation practice each morning, I often read poems - usually ones that I have read again and again, and sometimes poems that have been sent to me by those who are closest to me and the current happenings in my life.
When this month began anew, I received the poem, “For a New Beginning” by John O’Donahue. I am a big fan of John’s and have read this poem and many of his others over the years, but on August 1st as I read his poem (You can find it here.), it felt so powerful, so inspiring to me.
“This beginning has been quietly forming” for me through June and July. June was a hard one for me, with so much change and growth in one month. July was a fun and easeful one for me, not because the expectations or demands on me got any less - in fact, they grew - but because I held those demands and expectations differently - more lightly. It was a reminder of the power of mindset and self-care for my team and me. And it was a reminder of letting go and letting come. Of being still and knowing that you are exactly where you need to be, with who you need in your presence, doing exactly what you are meant to do.
Leave What You’ve Outgrown
Leaving what I have outgrown has been, and will continue to be, a lifelong learning for me. Letting go has always felt like “quitting” to me, and as a Fella - we don’t quit on each other or relationships in general. So I have had to unlearn that definition and relearn that letting go isn’t quitting, it is choosing me and my values. John’s third stanza was how June unfolded for me . . .
“It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.”
Find Your Safety Within
Oh man, even reading that now I feel it in my gut. And as we all learned during lockdown, and now as we come out of it, the seduction of safety is powerful. As we see everyone around us navigate change, we get whispered to a lot about sameness, which doesn’t work - especially when the waves of change keep coming.
None of us are the same. Thankfully. So a solution for one person doesn’t work for another.
Let the “Hard” Teach Us
Hanging on to a relationship or an outcome or an idea that doesn’t work anymore will keep those waves of turmoil coming. Making hard decisions in hard spaces is, well, hard. And it is in those moments that the “hard” teaches us the most, and in learning, we calm the waves inside of ourselves.
Trust the Abundance that Comes from Clarity
Trusting the “promise of this opening”, trusting abundance is all I have. And that is enough for me. Knowing I don’t have clear answers, but I do have clarity of myself and the immediate path ahead is more than enough for me to trust the process of life. I commit to “unfurling myself into the grace of beginning,” and it feels energizing. I release myself from the judgment and expectations of others and trust in the voice I hear - my voice.
So I say hello August . . . you are so welcome here with your new rhythm and energy, and your hints of fall, my favorite season. And July, thank you for the fun and gratitude. I know I needed June to teach me, and I know I needed July to help revive me. I cannot wait to see what August brings. Wishing you all a new beginning in this new month.
Or Grounding Yourself?
