Hello friend,

Are you crazed again this holiday season even though you vowed to simplify this year? If so, we are in the same boat!

I wonder if taking a moment to reflect on this short poem might be soothing. I found it when I was preparing a celebration of life for my dad. I think he would have liked this one, and the imagery makes me smile on the inside. 

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world and am free.

Wendell Berry, from The Peace of Wild Things And Other Poems (Penguin, 2018)

I absolutely love this time of year. AND, I’m craving the peace of wild things as I’m doing the whole, fabulous, “hustle and bustle” thing. I think I might carve out some time for a stroll in the woods that are just a short drive from my neighborhood in Poway, CA. 

I hope whatever creates peace in your life, you are getting it. And I wish you a beautiful holiday.

With love,

Lisa