2016 Review Part 8 of 8

"But then someone starts talking about your soul - maybe at church, maybe in a book. Someone starts talking about things like grace and rest and peace, and the soul feeling its worth, and that language feels so foreign and so beautiful, like water in a desert, like one bright bud pushing up in an otherwise arid landscape. And like a song you used to love but haven't heard for years, something breaks through: that's what I've been missing. That's it. My soul." -Shauna Niequist

This year was about my soul healing and playing and leading, and that totally surprised me.

That was not really a word in vocabulary. 

But it's what kept coming up.

My soul wanted me to take care of it. Thank you Thomas Moore audiobook: The Care of the Soul. It wanted play and rest and words of comfort. It wanted essential oils, and epsom salt baths. It wanted it's own journal with inspiring and comforting messages and images. It wanted to read books in the hammock. It wanted to blow bubbles and break out the kiddie pool and the sidewalk chalk. It wanted to make creations out of LEGO® blocks everyday even though that just seemed absurd. It wanted to sing loudly to soulful music. It wanted to have more sacred ritual and intention. It wanted to be sung sweet songs of blessings. It wanted love. And so I trusted it and went into new territory, mushy nurturing territory. Stuff I'm not great at, ask my spouse about when he's sick, yea, I'm not so great. And I learned to nurture my sweet soul. And I have to say, it was a pretty magical year. Because the magic happens when you trust and you show up in your life in the ways that your soul is speaking to you. That is my prayer and hope for you in 2017, that you will trust your soul and lead the life it wants you to lead.

I will leave you with these lyrics by Gungor
Magic
To the miracle of sign and the magic
All the angels flap their wings with the dragons
All the stories tell
Of the truer truth
How's the sky so blue?
All of the magic
 
To the miracle of life and the magic
All the atoms we arrange, enigmatic
See the earth it spins
Round the sun it goes
All the trees they grow
Into the magic
 
Come breathe it in the air
Feel it on your skin
Come play it on your drum
Feel the beat within
Love like a mystic drug
Filling everything
La lala la la la
 
All this miracle and light
All this magic
There is nothing left to hide
Bring your sadness
Bring your disbelief
Bring your tambourine
You can dance and sing
Here in the magic

In case you missed it:
Part 1 of 2016 Review
Part 2 of 2016 Review 
​Part 3 of 2016 Review
Part 4 of 2016 Review
Part 5 of 2016 Review
Part 6 of 2016 Review
Part 7 of 2016 Review

And if you want to know more about why I'm doing an annual review, and especially why I'm sharing it, read my recent blog post about it thanks to Cynthia Morris. ​