Welcome to 2023 3

I’m still not sure how one whole year has passed so swiftly and in some ways so gracefully that I had to be very present in each moment to NOT experience it quickly flying by me. I am making a promise to myself to practice mindfulness and be present in each moment more diligently and most of all more effortlessly. As the holidays have come and are almost completed I remember the joys and laughter of my grandchildren, and the excitement of my daughter announcing her engagement in November. I remember the excitement of Christmas morning and my 4 grandsons and adult children unwrapping the gifts I was able to provide for them and sharing this time with my sister and her family who are also welcoming their first granddaughter into their immediate family. The laughter and tears of joy, the chaos of 4 boys ages 4 yrs to 8 yrs racing through my house from one floor to another and I am grateful for the love, laughter, kindness and even the chaos. I could hear my spirit guides and angels laughing and smiling that so much energy was contained by these walls… I heard the sounds of love echoing throughout my home and I held the space for each one’s contributions to the symphony of joyful expression. As quickly as it began it seemed to end in a profound silence… welcomed and a bit saddened by the quiet, loving and gentle energy that remains in my home.

The next morning I went downstairs to my office and saw two large pictures had fallen down and the baseboard radiator behind the couch was pulled away from the wall and the outer covering of an outlet was cracked in half. After I stopped laughing I started to be very curious how little boys had managed to create this when I thought they were just turning my office into a secret hideout away from grown ups! So many possibilities ran through my head and then I decided I really just needed to ask them. My one grandson had told me the pictures fell down accidentally and not intentionally! The other one said a box on the back of the couch was up against the one middle picture and when he pulled it off the couch the two pictures came crashing down and must have pulled the radiator under them away from the wall. A much simpler explanation than all the notions I had in my mind of the possibilities or causes of such destruction… still not sure about the outlet cover but I realize that all is well and they had an amazing time on Christmas day creating magic!

When I read the news or listen to someone’s loss, grief, depression, or anxiety about so many different issues they are trying to process and cope with at this point in their life, I realize that the small amount of chaos and even the silence I experienced in the aftermath of Christmas Day is so temporary compared to the suffering of others and the suffering of so many in this world. I also realized how important it is to not try to imagine what the cause of a situation might be and instead just inquire with curiosity and compassion instead of fear, criticism or judgment. When we can come from this state of consciousness we are able to join our humanity with the ‘other’ and remember we have the blueprint to our own causes but not to another’s. Don’t spend life energy in your own mind playing out a drama or scenario that may never have happened or may never have been the intention of the other. Don’t project onto another what was never their behavior or intention…inquire with curiosity first…whether it is of a child, an adult, a parent, a spouse, or a friend.

When I see the national chaos within our country, the global chaos of countries with others , political ‘leaders’ not choosing to use respect, compassion and honesty about their own use of projection, gaslighting, denial and their choice to not remember their own humanity, my heart can feel so deeply saddened and I am aware that I could go right into my own judgment and join the ones who have forgotten or I can open my heart and feel the compassion for the suffering they choose and the disconnection from themselves and the Divine that lives within them and each one of us. (Just an FYI… the Divine never disconnects from us!) I pray and hold space that all will remember the simple truth of this Holiday Season and of each New Year that follows… we are all loved more than we can ever consciously imagine, we are innately perfect in all of our imperfections and we will always have our own unique chord of truth and path that will always guide us home to the Divine within and within everything we touch and see.

Just start with being curious, listen and feel with your heart and not your mind. This path is always here waiting for each of us individually and collectively. I choose to hold the space of this truth for myself and for all.

Wishing all a year filled with laughter, truth, love and an abundance of all that is there within you…

Love always,
Gail Hunter
President of the Board, OMA Center for Mind, Body & Spirit