Pausing to count my blessings... each stitch in the spiral another thing I'm grateful for in my life. Stitched in a Solstice ceremony and on my altar since... reminding me of the abundance of blessings ✨️
In the Wheel of the Year ceremony we asked those present to make a stitch, starting from the outside edge... a stitch for everything they were grateful for... everything that blessed their life... slowly, mindfully. Once they were done, we asked them to run their finger over the stitches, again from the outside edge toward the centre, opening to fully feeling those blessings... truly letting them into the body.
Then we asked them to pause... and this time to run their fingers over the stitches again, but from the centre outward and just to consider how blessing is reciprocal... how they bless all they feel blessed by... how they themselves are a blessing to all they are in relationship to in the world. Could they really open to that? Really let that in?
What If?
What if the leaves,
stirred to singing
by the breeze,
sing with even more joy
when they notice
you are listening?
What if the small white flower
quivers with delight
when you notice
her tiny
yet honourable
contribution
to the beauty
of this world?
And what if
that brief moment
is all she needs
to know that her life
is worth living,
all her efforts
not in vain?
What if the trees
feel the depth
of your pain,
and are quietly
reaching toward you,
offering solace
with everything
they have to give?
What if the whales
diving into the deep blue
can feel your love
for them,
even across all that
open ocean?
What if the water,
weary from
her endless journey,
is replenished by
your gratitude,
which gives her
the strength
to keep going?
What if the Earth
herself
longs to feel
the caress
of your naked feet
on her warm, brown skin?
And what if
the granite mountain,
no matter how remote
and immovable
he may seem,
feels a quiet shiver of joy
when you are touched
by his majestic beauty?
What if…?
~Kai Siedenburg