Last year about now, we flew from Virginia to the Bay Area to figure out our way forward

In the mix, we celebrated our anniversary at Sea Ranch where we exchanged vows

We house hunted, found the farm house I sit in now crafting this post

We celebrated my birthday in Bolinas

It was a lot, a good trip

For reasons I will reveal later so as to not jinx some mojo in the works, I thought about a special moment shared with my sisters on my birthday

We went to the beach in Bolinas and followed a ritual called “Ocean Devotion”

We took a moment to ground ourselves in the sand, at the place where water meets land

Engaged in a conversation with Yemaya, the Goddess of the Ocean

The devotion has several steps, collecting a natural offering of sea shells or feathers and finding a vessel (jar of some sort to repurpose) to be able to collect sea water

At the sea side, after taking a moment to pause, set an intention, thinking about what to release into the ocean, what wisdom you wish to receive.

Then, walk down to the water with the natural offering, express gratitude for her, her openness to listen. Reveal your intention, your request. Pause, listening to her, yourself.

When the moment is right, collect water in the vessel to allow a revisitation of the moment at home.

Yes, for some this is a bit out there

And no, Yemaya isn’t a replacement for God

This ritual allowed me to pause, in a time of great uncertainty, in a time of great change, great stress

It was a time I was just learning what “ambiguous loss” means: loosing a little bit daily, slowly, like the frog in water metaphor

I asked for abundance, reflecting on how abundant the ocean was

The ocean, she, maintains a safe place for the very tiny juvenile box fish and the very large whale

Tolerating all kinds of ships and boats on her, good ones and bad

Providing rich and abundant food source for both creatures of the sea and land

She, the great ocean, is abundance

So I reflected on that, requested abundance in that in that moment for the road ahead

Now, looking back, it’s amazing to be here, in this moment, able to see the abundance that we have been blessed with during the ensuing year

This great farm house, amazing moments of love and support from many members of Matt’s family, truly amazing support all year from my east coast family, ability for me to continue along with my firm and keep health insurance, meeting wonderful new doctors here, selling the house during the summer market, EB moving here for her job, Mary having her retirement party here, the WTC Club being together for it for the first time in 10 years…..the list of evidence of abundance is huge, long, mind blowing

So much love and true understanding from so many family and friends, and strangers

Stopping for a moment and acknowledging, really feeling the blessing, processing gratefulness

That is what this morning is all about

I recall too, Corny’s reflection of her experience in the moment we shared

She said it’s important to remember that while she, the ocean, is providing so much to so many, she is changing too

All is in motion….in one way or another

Our troubles are ours, like the Ernest poem

They happen in the midst and often without regard to others troubles

Gratefulness is so powerful

It seems to be the path, the tool, to help remember our troubles aren’t the only thing going on in the world