Family

Great Savannah trees in all their majesty took my breath away on Friday walking to a neighbor's house. I still feel all the delight and magic lingering from my holiday experience, 2014. This was the first Christmas I have spent at home in 7 years, and my sweet relatives made sure it was my best ever. 

Family, a perennial theme during any holiday, is sometimes a charged word for me, depending upon which past experiences I associate with it. This year I desired to honor the word by creating a fresh definition for myself that would invite positive connotations every time I heard it, spoke it, or was immersed in it. After meditating on this, what I learned surprised me: Family is a feeling.

Physically I feel it in the center of my chest as a sweet and beautiful lake, naturally warm like hot springs. Rivers extend from this lake into the creases under my arms and flow around to my back, just behind my heart. Smaller streams of the pleasant water trickle from my heart down my spine, the sides of my torso, and into the tops of my legs. It is comfort. It is delight. It is love.

Feeling THIS enabled me to stay aligned to the sacredness that is Family regardless of what kind of chaos or conversation was occurring around me in each moment. It became clear to me that family is anyone who I love. And if love is infinite, and family (as I define it) feels so good, then the more people in my family the better! With this definition, family includes friends across the world, the stranger I had a sweet conversation with at the post office, even truck drivers on the highway that I'll never interact with beyond a wave from the steering wheel.

Just imagine every time I heard the word, "family", I felt warm sweet lake waters all through my body! Maintaining awareness of this physical sensation of Family throughout these holidays gave me a high that constantly replenished my energy. Through feeling gratitude and honor that I now associate with this word, I was able to invite everyone with whom I interacted into my family! How fun to realize that you're a member of my family too!!

May you find majesty and warm delightful family all around as you send off this 2014 and welcome in all the wonder and excitement this new year has in store!

Love and drops of gold in the shape of leaves from magical trees upon you, 

Lucinda