Wherever You Go, There You Are

“The mere sense of living is joy enough.” ~ Emily Dickinson

2020 is history! Some say good riddance and here’s to better times ahead. But I say, no matter where I am in time and space, I take all my joys, sorrows, wounds, and triumphs with me.

Part of the reason I don’t make resolutions is because the numbers on the calendar may change but I’m still focused, as I have been for a number of years now, on deep inner work. I’m trying to unlearn things I took for the truth. This is a slow process and every so often I rejoice when I get to take out the trash. Then I go back to see what else needs to be healed and discarded. It’s a never ending process.

2020 was a particularly good year for doing my inner work. I had lots of time on my hands to meditate, write in my journal, and read. I had time to develop new practices like focusing on love whenever hatred took over the news and social media. I must say that was a huge challenge. I’d be so tempted to get sucked into the fear and blame. But something would remind me that love is the only thing that’s real. Everything else is part of the drama we’ve created so we can learn that we’re worthy of love no matter what. That The Creator, or God, or whatever you want to call our source, doesn’t want a thing from us. She/He/It loves us just because we exist. 

I have to say that’s a concept that I still struggle with. I keep remembering those lessons in church about doing good works so I can be worthy to get into the Kingdom of Heaven. That concept fights with the new one that says I’m perfect just as I am, even with all my flaws. Nothing can stop love flowing to me, except for the blocks I put up to stop the flow.

This year I plan to continue to turn my attention back to love when I’m tempted to be judgmental, and blame others for heinous acts. Because one thing I have learned is that the outer world reflects what’s going on inside of me. If I’m in turmoil, so is the world around me.

This week between Christmas and New Years Day, I’ve had some profound realizations. 

1. No matter how bad things look on the outside, there is always something to be grateful for.
2. That if I hurt someone and think I was right, I’m not. There is always more than one way to look at the situation and I need to admit I was wrong and not try to justify what I did.
3. That nature is forgiving and just waiting for us to honor and connect with her. 
4. That being shut in with my husband for all these months has given us the opportunity to build better communication skills.
5. That what hurts someone close to home, or on the other side of the globe hurts me, and what helps them helps me. I’m connected to everything that exists and there is no way to break that tie.
6. That every day is precious. It’s important to find joy and gratitude in the little blessings of life.

I’m sure there are other things I’ve learned this year but that list will do for now.

I hope and pray that this coming year will open doors for you. That you’ll learn new things and learn to love yourself and others just a little bit more.

Blessings to you all. Thanks for following, reading, liking, and commenting on my posts. I appreciate it.

Lucinda Sage-Midgorden © 2021

Lucinda is the author of The Space Between Time, an award finalist in the “Fiction: Fantasy” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards.

Have you ever experienced life shattering events? Yeah, most of us have. In The Space Between Time, Jenna Holden gets slammed by her fiancé walking out, her mother’s untimely death, and losing her job all in one week. But she receives unexpected help when she finds her three-times great-grandmother’s journals and begins the adventure of a lifetime.

The Space Between Time is available in all ebook formats at Smashwords and for Kindle at Amazon, or you can find the ebook at iBooks or Barnes and Noble. If you prefer a physical copy, you can find a print-on-demand version at Amazon. Stay tuned for news when the audiobook version is published.

Lucinda is also the host of Story-Power a new podcast where she and her guests discuss the stories in all formats that have changed their lives. It’s available here on Sage Woman Chronicles and on Apple, Google, and Spotify podcast apps. Please rate and leave a review. It helps people find me.