#130: Still One More Thing to Wrap

A gift from the heart

I am blessed and grateful to have loving family and friends nearby. Along with the joy and excitement of gathering, winter holidays may be a difficult time for those who are alone, companion-less, and feeling isolated. Each year before bringing my home’s winter wardrobe down from the attic, I give myself permission to cry as this season brings up the grief of losing my parents and my daughter...all too early.

When I saw this posted this morning on Facebook by a dear friend, I wanted to share it with you, too. We all know someone who could use a hug…the best gift ever.

A hug is to give.

May you find the words below of John O’Donohue a blessing for you and your loved ones, too.

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Beannacht: A Blessing for the New Year
by John O’ Donohue

On the day when
The weight deadens
On your shoulders
And you stumble,
May the clay dance
To balance you.
And when your eyes
Freeze behind
The grey window
And the ghost of loss
Gets in to you,
May a flock of colours,
Indigo, red, green,
And azure blue,
Come to awaken in you
A meadow of delight.
When the canvas frays
In the currach of thought
And a stain of ocean
Blackens beneath you,
May there come across the waters
A path of yellow moonlight
To bring you safely home.
May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
May the clarity of light be yours,
May the fluency of the ocean be yours,
May the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
Wind work these words
Of love around you,
An invisible cloak
To mind your life.

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Song for Today

Debussy: Des pas sur la neige (Footsteps in the Snow) from Préludes - Book I

Photo by Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash