Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! This dragonfruit flower bloomed today as the dawn was breaking. Its glory may be short-lived yet I celebrated its beauty and offering to the world – to the bee’s, to our family and people who pass by and stop and gaze into the intricate and delicate cup.
2020 has been an extraordinary year where many people around the world have questioned, ‘how on earth is it possible to bloom at this time?’
With all of the challenges, sadness, limitations and, at times, the despair, the stories that have most often inspired and encouraged us to take heart and to find hope, are the ones where people have cared for and uplifted others. Acts of kindness shared through stories, song, deep listening, solace and support in times of mourning and celebration – expressions that inspire us to stay connected… no matter what.
Thank you for all the ways you’ve showed up this year! Thank you for your presence here at this time.
2020 has been a time to adjust, accept and to connect in new ways. Author, Elizabeth Edwards, who experienced a few unexpected storms in her life, wrote before she died, that she wanted to be remembered as someone who ‘stood in the storm and when the wind did not blow her way, she adjusted her sails.’
I prefer fine weather sailing and enjoy a small amount of excitement on the seas and I know, from direct experience, that no matter my preferences, storms will continue to come. The more I engage in mindfulness practices and self enquiry, the more I find a deep well of peace and acceptance that helps me to navigate whatever life brings.
Let’s raise our glasses of champagne, water, fresh juice, cups of tea to fine tuning our skills in 2021 to be able to make those adjustments particularly in the stormy and unexpected weather – of developing our capacity to read the winds and knowledge of the natural world, to listening to one another and being able to work together, for finding the courage to stand on the bow of the boat as we ride the waves or, if necessary, for hunkering down and harnessing ourselves to something solid and, when we don’t know what on earth is going on and the ocean of life is tossing us around, turning toward our vulnerability, calling upon our courage and leaning into Grace and, as the poet, John O’Donohue, invites us to, ‘awaken to the mystery of being here and enter the vast immensity of our own presence’.
It would be an honour to ‘sail through this life’ with you. Or, if you are a landlubber, ‘to walk each other home’. Either way, here are a few offerings, freely given, to find our way ‘home’ together.
Firstly, a mindfulness meditation practice to foster a sense of connection, belonging, kindness and being with what is, as it is.
Secondly, I’d like to welcome you to my fresh look here at wendyhaynes.com and also, to this new style of newsletter. This change was a forced move as they were closing down the website platform yet, in adjusting my sails, it was a great opportunity to get clear on what I’d like to focus on next year – shared peace, wisdom and freedom – embracing difficult conversations and celebrating this precious life… with you. I will be transferring across a lot of the stories, free resources and informative celebrant information that had been growing over the last twenty years and creating lots of new content based around celebrancy, mindfulness, nonviolent communication and ‘death and dying’.
Thirdly, here are my
OFFERINGS FOR 2021.
Freely given. Happy New Year!
- Weekly online mindfulness and presence meditation. Every Tuesday 7-7.30pm AEDT.
- Ongo: Mindfulness and Nonviolent Communication – 12 week Program
- Celebrating This Precious Life – Honest Conversations about Death and Dying – Six Month Program
Click here for more information
- Monthly Online Guided Empathy Circles – What’s Alive for You in this Moment? and Community Conversations about Death and Dying.
Click here for more information
Thank you for your participation – for your stories of inspiration, your interest and encouragement – for writing to tell me how its been for you, sharing quotes and stories, by reading my work or for joining in the gatherings where we could ‘show up and support each other’ – in conversation and/or by sitting in quiet, powerful presence together. Thank you.
Lastly, whatever happens, may you bloom in 2021! Happy New Year!
Many blessings and much love, Wendy
