My heart is heavy this morning, or perhaps “full” is a better word to describe the sensation in my chest… that is bursting with the agony and ecstasy of LOVE and loss. How miraculous to feel grief and joy, pain, and celebration all at the same time.
Yesterday my precious kitty friend of almost 19 years, “Mani”, made her leap from this world to the next.
What an extraordinary experience!
I feel deeply honored that she allowed me to share such intimacy. It was really tough to stay fully present with her and my emotions throughout this time!
We had both been getting ready for her transition for several months, as ready as one can ever be to say goodbye to someone who has become an essential part of you.
That night, she had somehow made her way from her bed near the wood stove to the bedroom and woke me up with a cry like I have never heard before. I picked her up and she slept next to my heart for the rest of the night. I held her little paws and loved her with all my being.
Later that morning, again I held Mani next to my heart, this time during the hour of meditation that I shared with four “mystic sisters” over the phone from various locations on the planet. They “energetically” held her too.
During the meditation Mani began to “knead the air”, something I had not witnessed her do for a very long time. Then she relaxed into a profound state of sweet presence. She looked so adorable, very calm, breathing peacefully. Was she meditating too?
After the meditation I put her down on a blanket next to the wood stove. Within the hour she took her leap into the LIGHT and I cried a river of tears.
Last night was stormy and vibrantly alive in the forest where I live. My partner and I buried Mani in a grove of Cedar. While offering our prayers and covering her with white roses, suddenly a powerful wild wind came up and shook the trees all around us!!!
As the TREES gave Mani their blessing, they also reflected with me the pain of her loss with the most awesome sound. The forest that Mani loved joined me in saying goodbye to our darling friend.
I share the ending of my relationship with Mani (in the form that I knew it) and this experience of conscious closure with you because I imagine that you too have experienced losses this year. If so, my heart goes out to YOU!
Perhaps you are in the process of going through an ending of one kind or another at this very moment….perhaps you too are letting go of someone or something that you have cherished.
If so, I want to encourage you to bravely face and honor your endings consciously, the only way to truly make space for new possibilities!!!
To consciously say goodbye and move forward with an open heart requires willingness, courage, a brave heart, support from others, and at least for me, a LIFE LINE to the Divine.
In order to move forward in life with consciousness and an open heart while facing its many challenges is a challenge in itself. It requires willingness, courage, a brave heart, support from others, and at least for me, a LIFE LINE to the Divine.
There are many ways to acknowledge and nurture such a LIFE LINE, and here are a few that can be especially helpful at a time of transition:
• Create an altar, light a candle and pray to the Divine for connection and assistance
• Meditate, either alone or with others (my favorite)
• Read the things that help shift you into a wider perspective, such as sacred texts, poems, stories….
• Tune into the Higher Self of the people you interact with throughout the day
• Acknowledge life synchronicities when they occur
• Perform acts of intentional creativity, such as painting poetry writing, preparing a meal (not my specialty)
During the winter days ahead and the completion of the year, I invite you to join me in enhancing a LIFE LINE to the Divine, and in your own way, ask to consciously bless, grieve, and release the year’s losses, and to create tender space for the new possibilities as the New Year begins.
Who knows, maybe there’s even a little kitten in my future?
