Sunday Night Reflections

The Artist's Way
Week 7
I realized this week that the journey through the Artist's Way will finish just as Easter approaches. Rather fitting I think.
This week was about recovering a sense of connection, reconnecting with our dreams, desires, wishes. What is it that we truly want?
My husband, and I, have been dealing with some skin cancer issues for a while, but two years ago it became a much more serious situation. Last December he had a very large place cut off of his head. Now, only two months later three more places were found. It breaks my heart. I hate to see him going through this, and I hate the thought of what will eventually be. I have had three people in my life who have loved and adored me, a great-grandmother, a grandmother, and my husband. What's interesting to me is that none of the three are blood family. My great-grandmother adopted my paternal grandmother, and my grandmother was my mother's aunt by marriage. Both women were precious, kind, loving, and giving. If I were to describe my husband, I would use the very same words to describe him. I'm very fortunate.
An exchange student called this week. He was one of the more difficult students we hosted, but he is the one who loves and respects me the most. He called to check on my husband and to tell me that he will be coming this summer. Wonderful.
Lent began this week. As I sat in church on Ash Wednesday and thought of how I could make my Lenten experience richer, I decided that a small fast (only one meal per day) is what I would like to do. It is proving to be very powerful, I give up a small thing and I'm rewarded with something so much greater.
Through my morning pages I was able to remember and make a connection that has eluded me for a very long time. I will admit that it was not a pleasant experience, memories can be that way. But it has prompted me to do something that I have thought about for quite some time. I am finally in a place where I can put fear aside and look truth in the face.
This week will be our eighth week. The chapter is all about recovering a sense of strength. We will see that in order to move through loss, we must first acknowledge it and then share it. For many of us, our losses are kept tucked away in a place where we think they are protected. But hidden away, they continue to poison us, convincing us to settle for far less than we deserve.
Wherever this week takes you, I wish you a week of grace, beauty and a determination to really live each day.