Intentions on this Season of endings

My Sugar Skull

So, it is the season of All Souls Day, the Day of the Dead, when we enter the time of year that brings us to a season of endings and renewals. For some reasons, this year pausing on these ideas seems important to me.  I guess I am arriving at an age, where I want to stop and feel these parts of life – and I think others do to (maybe you too?).

Today, I sent out an email to many of remarkable women in my life to share these ideas.

We all have losses, people to remember, changes to process.  How do we bring the experiences of our lives into our bodies, accept them, grow?  Not shut down, isolate ourselves, or fragment our deeper work for a later time. This spirit and intention of the season would have seemed morbid for much of my life, but I don’t think so.

I want to honor this time with Memorials.

For me, memorial means memory.  It means seeing ourselves as connected.   I have been struck – especially In these last few years – how women in so many ways,  tend, cultivate, carry meaning – create it and pass it on in life, relationships, and daily experiences.  To me, memorial is about honoring lineage and connection – as something real and significant in daily life.  And it is about honoring and pausing on endings, without trying to ‘fix’ them or change them. Just see them as part of life, for a moment.

We create meaning when we pause to see others in us and how we shape each other  (both those of us who are alive and those who came before).  We create meaning when we pause to look at our changes and challenges, and when we see our deeper work as significant for others as well.  When we do this, we accept, in small ways, our endings and renewals in ways that supports our creating community for ourselves and others.

I also want to pause on how hard, and important this season is. I take a few breaths – and hope you will join me – over living, death, ending, renewal, and losses in this season.  Not ‘fixing’, turning away, or moving quickly. Maybe light a candle, maybe take a walk, or maybe just take a moment in quiet.   I will be lighting a few candles to honor these intentions tonight, Nov 2. Thanks for joining me – if this resonates at all with you.