Messages from Everywhere

Summer is just a few days old, and I've been feeling the shift ~ maybe you have, too?

The days are longer, the light stretches later, and yet... not every day is sunny or feels sunny. Especially in heavy times like these.

Last week I went for a walk near the beach. Even though it was the cusp of summer, everything felt muted ~ the ocean, the clouds, even my own energy: it was a June Gloom kind of day all around. And then, just ahead, I saw a man in a bright orange vest holding a huge bubble wand with both hands. He swayed side to side, like he was dancing with the wind, allowing it to blow huge, iridescent bubbles into the sky. They floated and shimmered in all kind of shapes ~ some were like giant tubes that held the light in that magical bubble way.

I stood there, smiling and transfixed, watching the bubbles and all the kids who kept jumping up and down, trying to catch them 🫧

Two days later, I was at a neighbor's house. I glanced under a table and saw a monarch chrysalis just hanging there. It was such a surprise! And a reminder that transformation can begin anywhere ~ including where I least expect it.

Seeing the bubbles and the chrysalis made me think about how moments like this are happening all the time (alongside the challenging realities of our days). But it's easy to miss them ~ especially when I'm tired, distracted or stressed.

I came across this poem by Naomi Shihab Nye this week, too. And it feels related, so I wanted to share it with you today:

Messages from Everywhere
by Naomi Shihab Nye

Messages from everywhere
light up our backyard.
A bird that flew five thousand miles
is trilling six bright notes.
This bird flew over mountains and valleys
and tiny dolls and pencils
of children I will never see.
Because this bird is singing to me,
I belong to the wide wind,
the people far away who share
the air and the clouds.
Together we are looking up
into all we do not own
and we are listening.

from Everything Comes Next: Collected and New Poems (Greenwillow Books, 2020)

❤️

There’s a lot to distract us from the “messages from everywhere” that are present in each moment: the news, our worries about collective and personal challenges. And for many of us, the most constant distraction is the voice of the inner critic.

The inner critic can make it so hard to see the beauty around us ~ and even harder to see the beauty within us. It tells us we’re separate, behind, not doing enough. It keeps us from noticing the quiet ways we already belong, and the ways we already deserve kindness.

To bring more attention and noticing to this, put a hand on your heart and take three breaths.
With each inhale, say to yourself: messages from everywhere
With each exhale: tell me I belong
When you finish, notice how you feel.

Wishing you a Sunday full of messages from everywhere ❤️

Do you have loved ones who struggle with self-judgment? Please forward this post to them ❤️