Happy Thanksgiving Day!

May your day be filled with community, connection, and contentment. 

I have just returned from a short trip to La Pine, Oregon to help my husband winterize the family cabin for the cold season.

Six miles down a dirt road and 10 miles from the town of La Pine, the cabin provided a healing quiet, a night sky full of stars, and sorely needed rest.

Every day, I slept until 7 am when the sun finally poked through the low clouds. After an hour of yoga and breakfast, I took an invigorating walk through the tall pines, inhaling the frosty air, and soft winter light.

In 3 days, I devoured a 300-page novel about women’s magic and the suffragette movement in the early 1900s. Then I spent the next 4 days painting and repainting a new watercolor card for the winter holidays. 

In between we replaced the exhaust hood over the stove (not as easy as it sounds) and took a charity shop excursion to La Pine and Bend where we scored 5 Harry Potter DVD's (which we bing watched for 5 evenings), 50 colorful buttons (for a craft project), a carry-on bag (to replace the one that is falling apart), a bag full of pencil erasers, floor tiles for the kitchen, a pair of jeans and a string of LED Christmas lights.

Charity shopping, I suspect, is the modern version of "hunting and gathering."

In our last two days, we were gifted with a dusting of snow which magically disappeared when it was time for us to leave.

My heart is full of gratitude for this peaceful respite and all that is good in my life -- family, friends, home, health, beauty, creativity, and love. But also, I am grateful for the things that challenge me and keep me activated and alert.

There are many horrible things going on in the world right now – war, violence, hatred, intolerance, cruelty, suffering, inequality, greed, corruption – the list is long. Yet, I can still be grateful.

I am coming to accept that is the nature of life -- the constant swing between good and bad, positive/negative, exalted and depraved. I find that I can navigate this dichotomy of existence with equanimity, by focusing on what feeds, inspires, and motivates me rather than on my disgust or despair. That is not to say we should ignore the wrongs, but rather to take a deep breath and focus on what is good and what we can do to make things better.

Little can be achieved in a state of frustration or anger, although it is often a precursor to meaningful action. That is why I am especially grateful for the Sufi work and my Friday class. 

Each day, I hit the reset button and remember what is truly important and who I really am: a spiritual being having a human adventure.

It is through the contractions of life--the difficulties and challenges, that we find the strength and determination to do our best and learn to accept and appreciate everything that comes our way.

What would Harry Potter movies be like without the challenge of Voldemort to push him and his friends to the limits of their courage and brilliance? Pretty boring, I imagine.

Meditation is part of this realization. It enables us to see beyond the immediate discomforts of life to the bigger picture of the world and ourselves

If you could use a reset, please join me tomorrow, December 24th at 9 am for some slow movement, deep breathing, and life appreciation.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89999494833?pwd=V2pOS28yYUdXM3hkaW1rVWIvSjBUdz09

Meeting ID: 899 9949 4833

Passcode: SUFI

Here's a time converter link if you need to check the time in your location.

Be brilliant.

Michelle

Dr. Michelle Peticolas

Life Transformation Coach

Empowering Women to Reinvent Their Life After Loss

Secrets of Life and Death

https://www.facebook.com/secretsoflifeanddeath.com