Hi Molly, I feel with you. 2 years ago I thought I was headed for a wheelchair or at least a cane...and it started my journey back to strength, coming out of the menopause liminal space (I feel you) and being led to you last year. This year in Australia is some sort of spiritual sabatical for me to come out of that labyrinth of darkness i have been in, integrating my childhood and motherhood trauma. I very much am with you in putting myself back together...next year my Tim and I will walk the hills of Tuscany for three weeks.. I am preparing for it now! In much the same way you are... I'll be following with bated breath!
Jo, what a journey! I'm so excited that you will be walking for three weeks next year. We need more of these stories of internal and external recovery.
I am very much on a similar journey, specifically with taking on way less than I was. As a homeschooling mother of three it's been very easy to overcommit to many people and activities. It took a toll on my body and I crashed about a week ago. Choosing rest and prioritizing my health has created big shifts in my family's flow. I decided to start going to the gym once I feel better (also recovering from a prolapse) and that feels big too. I'm ready to feel strong instead of consistently perplexed by random health issues. I really loved the way you spoke of prayer and praying with your feet. My prayer practice has also shifted from reading prayers I wrote to speaking new spontaneous prayers out loud and unscripted. It's been profound. Sending so many blessings your way!
Kaitlin, thank you for sharing. Your story feels familiar to me in many ways. I hear your desire and focus. I do believe these kind of reorientations do so well in community, and when voiced as you did here! Here's to unscripted spoken prayers.
I resonate with this so much! I wrote about a similar journey recently in the Loam. I am getting ready to walk the West Highland Way in Scotland. 100 miles. and the day after I return I will have a complete hysterectomy. For the last few years I have been learning to live into rest and honoring my body. The last few months have been intensified. My body and spirit are exhausted. This walk in Scotland feels like a threshold. A walk into leaving the the too much too fast of our culture and my past and stepping into listening and honoring what it means to be present to the earth and my body and soul. I am choosing to see the surgery and recovery as a time of deep rest and integration. I am scared too. Can I do it? Can I physically do the walk? Can I cross the threshold? Can I rest and integrate? And underneath that is the fear of the not knowing what the surgery will find and how I will move forward with that information. On some level this is, of course, deeply personal. AND it feels like the issue of our times, I hear it everywhere lately. We are living into a sea change. Holding the dichotomies is both necessary and exhausting.
AMEN! I love everything about this. I too feel like I am on the verge of a walking journey. In my early 40s l walked 4 full marathons which meant a lot of time on my feet walking. Then I had injuries and one health scare with severe anemia and a mental health crisis. Long story but we adopted two dogs in January. One of which came from a horrific hoarding situation. I walk him to let him burn off energy and in return I feel stronger and happier. I love this journey you are on and look forward to updates.
Heather! I remember your marathons, yes, yes. Love the animal-human connection and ways we help each other find our way again. What a sweet and grounded journey to be on with your pup.
Oh Molly, I love this reminder to myself how valuable walking prayer is. It reminded me when decades ago I would go for a morning dawn walk to double down on exercise and prayer time. My children were young and mom's need to multi-task as much as possible. At the time I was indoctrinated in religion that spoke of a 'prayer closet.' I felt guilty for not praying on my knees in a enclosed space. Would my prayers be heard walking outside in wide open spaces? Yes, Roselle, yes they are. Wide open space prayers with the momentum of walking. Beautiful and freeing. I've come out of the closet and into the wide open prayer space where my prayers are shouted from mountain tops. Amen
Roselle, thank you for this... love hearing about how you followed your instinct and gut and ended up exactly where you want to be for prayerful times.
Oh Molly, so much comfort, honesty and wisdom in your words. Thank you for letting us witness you, I am glad you decided to share this with us.
The Journey, making space to unravel, come back together and then unravel again.
If feel like I'm making several journeys within journeys, it always feels so big and overwhelming. I can feel something stir and rise as I type away- the overwhelm.
But then reading you created a sense of soothing too.
I have not been able to name this journey that I am on but I feel less alone when I hear of other women, like yourself, on a journey too.
Gursharn, I hear so much unfolding in your words here. The overwhelm is real and I am on a journey to find a way underneath that overwhelm. How can I do this without tanking? There is so much in our world that leads us to collapse. I hear you finding the soothing. Huge.
You may enjoy Hagitude by Sharon Blackie.
I’m in! ❤️
Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes
Hi Molly, I feel with you. 2 years ago I thought I was headed for a wheelchair or at least a cane...and it started my journey back to strength, coming out of the menopause liminal space (I feel you) and being led to you last year. This year in Australia is some sort of spiritual sabatical for me to come out of that labyrinth of darkness i have been in, integrating my childhood and motherhood trauma. I very much am with you in putting myself back together...next year my Tim and I will walk the hills of Tuscany for three weeks.. I am preparing for it now! In much the same way you are... I'll be following with bated breath!
Jo, what a journey! I'm so excited that you will be walking for three weeks next year. We need more of these stories of internal and external recovery.
I am very much on a similar journey, specifically with taking on way less than I was. As a homeschooling mother of three it's been very easy to overcommit to many people and activities. It took a toll on my body and I crashed about a week ago. Choosing rest and prioritizing my health has created big shifts in my family's flow. I decided to start going to the gym once I feel better (also recovering from a prolapse) and that feels big too. I'm ready to feel strong instead of consistently perplexed by random health issues. I really loved the way you spoke of prayer and praying with your feet. My prayer practice has also shifted from reading prayers I wrote to speaking new spontaneous prayers out loud and unscripted. It's been profound. Sending so many blessings your way!
Kaitlin, thank you for sharing. Your story feels familiar to me in many ways. I hear your desire and focus. I do believe these kind of reorientations do so well in community, and when voiced as you did here! Here's to unscripted spoken prayers.
Molly dear Molly. Such honesty, such seeing. I see you, friend. One foot in front of the other, literally and metaphorically. ❤️❤️❤️
I resonate with this so much! I wrote about a similar journey recently in the Loam. I am getting ready to walk the West Highland Way in Scotland. 100 miles. and the day after I return I will have a complete hysterectomy. For the last few years I have been learning to live into rest and honoring my body. The last few months have been intensified. My body and spirit are exhausted. This walk in Scotland feels like a threshold. A walk into leaving the the too much too fast of our culture and my past and stepping into listening and honoring what it means to be present to the earth and my body and soul. I am choosing to see the surgery and recovery as a time of deep rest and integration. I am scared too. Can I do it? Can I physically do the walk? Can I cross the threshold? Can I rest and integrate? And underneath that is the fear of the not knowing what the surgery will find and how I will move forward with that information. On some level this is, of course, deeply personal. AND it feels like the issue of our times, I hear it everywhere lately. We are living into a sea change. Holding the dichotomies is both necessary and exhausting.
AMEN! I love everything about this. I too feel like I am on the verge of a walking journey. In my early 40s l walked 4 full marathons which meant a lot of time on my feet walking. Then I had injuries and one health scare with severe anemia and a mental health crisis. Long story but we adopted two dogs in January. One of which came from a horrific hoarding situation. I walk him to let him burn off energy and in return I feel stronger and happier. I love this journey you are on and look forward to updates.
Heather! I remember your marathons, yes, yes. Love the animal-human connection and ways we help each other find our way again. What a sweet and grounded journey to be on with your pup.
Oh Molly, I love this reminder to myself how valuable walking prayer is. It reminded me when decades ago I would go for a morning dawn walk to double down on exercise and prayer time. My children were young and mom's need to multi-task as much as possible. At the time I was indoctrinated in religion that spoke of a 'prayer closet.' I felt guilty for not praying on my knees in a enclosed space. Would my prayers be heard walking outside in wide open spaces? Yes, Roselle, yes they are. Wide open space prayers with the momentum of walking. Beautiful and freeing. I've come out of the closet and into the wide open prayer space where my prayers are shouted from mountain tops. Amen
Roselle, thank you for this... love hearing about how you followed your instinct and gut and ended up exactly where you want to be for prayerful times.
Oh Molly, so much comfort, honesty and wisdom in your words. Thank you for letting us witness you, I am glad you decided to share this with us.
The Journey, making space to unravel, come back together and then unravel again.
If feel like I'm making several journeys within journeys, it always feels so big and overwhelming. I can feel something stir and rise as I type away- the overwhelm.
But then reading you created a sense of soothing too.
I have not been able to name this journey that I am on but I feel less alone when I hear of other women, like yourself, on a journey too.
x
Gursharn, I hear so much unfolding in your words here. The overwhelm is real and I am on a journey to find a way underneath that overwhelm. How can I do this without tanking? There is so much in our world that leads us to collapse. I hear you finding the soothing. Huge.
Your mom sounds like a wise woman :)
I am learning / practicing/forgetting/remembering to: Be present. Be alert.
I know - tiny glimpses - it begets the walking prayer way of being.
Wishing you well, of course.
Terry, yes my mom is a wise lady indeed.
Love how you languaged that-- practicing, learning, forgetting remembering. That IS the way.