july 20, 2006
dear friends -
wow, it’s almost august already! i wonder how many you are on vacation right now, enjoying a change of pace, a change of environment, and hopefully lots of relaxation …
the older i get, the more i appreciate the rhythm that carries me through the years. this time of year often has a bit of a dreamy quality, doesn’t it?
maybe it’s the summer heat, maybe it’s memories of wonderful vacations we’ve had in the past, maybe it’s this change of pace that seems to slow everything a bit down. then in september, everything starts afresh, with the autumn breezes giving us a bit of encouragement. then thanksgiving, the christmas season, new year, the awakening from the cold in the lovely spring that we have here in vancouver – and then it’s summer again, the cycle continuing on and on.
there is something soothing in this rhythm. why is that? it makes me think of the ocean – the waves coming in, going out, coming in, going out. these ebbs and tides are part of my life. maybe we’re all a little bit like the ocean?
also, taking part in the rhythm of the seasons connects me to everyone else. to you, to other people, to the bears up in whistler, the seals on kits beach, to the arbutus trees by lighthouse park, to the north shore mountains … we’re all part of the same drama.
more and more i realize, too, how important it is that we feel this connection, that we feel that we’re not alone with our daily challenges. that sounds like such a cliche, doesn’t it? but like so many cliches, we tend to dismiss them, roll our eyes and say, yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever.
most cliches are grown from a very rich soil of truth, though. so as i dig deeper into this cliche, i notice that even those of us who deeply treasure our time alone or are not social butterflies, still direly need this connection to the world around us.
if we do not truly and consciously engage with other human beings and other creatures around us, we cut ourselves off from vital sources of hope, joy, understanding and inspiration.
marja bergen is someone who is very aware of this. i am happy to announce that she will be our fireside chat author of the month, next wednesday, july 26. marja has written riding the rollercoaster: living with mood disorders. we will have a conversation about how her spiritual connections help her manage her mental health.
even though there are millions of canadians who struggle with mental health issues, there is still so much stigma attached to it. we are very lucky that there are courageous people like marja who pierce through this stigma.
as many of you know, our fireside chats are friendly, informal discussions at sacred space at 27 west pender street (across from tinseltown) on wednesdays from 6:30pm to 7:30 pm. here are the dates:
fireside chat topics
wednesday, july 26 – author’s night: marja bergen
wednesday, august 2 – books that make a difference
wednesday, august 9 – no fireside chat (i’ll be in kelowna)
wednesday, august 16 – animal friends
please come and visit us for these lovely chats; we always have a great time and it’s always so surprising what comes out of these conversations! a few weeks ago, we had a talk on creativity, and one of the things we ended up talking about was how to be creative in our relationships. so you never know …
have a wonderful time, everyone, enjoy your summer, and take good care of yourselves!
isabella mori
counselling in vancouver
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