Anam Nostos House Blog

Unearthing you...

When I came across this online, it stopped me in my mindless scrolling. Read it. Read it again. And again.

"There can be a whole world inside us that's been buried alive."

The raw truth of this statement came flooding to my eyes as tears fell. I remember the moment when I realized for the first time I was more than where I came from, what happened to me or how I once lived my life. 

It took too many painful moments, hours, days and years for me to unearth the treasures that indeed live and breathe within my soul underneath the rubble that I had to lift piece by piece.

Some days, the rubble was too heavy.
Some days the rubble was too broken.
And some days the rubble was surprisingly light when I would discover the joy amidst the pile.

What do you still need to unearth today?
Are you willing to walk into the pile and start lifting off the pieces, so you can find your joy?

Every day of our lives we are unearthing our true selves. I don't believe it ever ends. I think life is a constant excavation of who we are becoming and who we are meant to be amidst the rubble.

You began and will end a treasure. The life in between is up to you.

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​“Woundology” is a term coined by Caroline Myss to describe how people can become overly identified with their wounds. 

I believe that we all experience this process. Stop to consider why we stay wounded or within our pain than moving forward. Do you see it? We often know and understand our pain more than we identify with wellness. Life is challenging at any given moment, but we know how to sit in that pain. It can be comfortable, more comfortable than doing hard work to find a release in healing.

I wonder how we can step away from being defined by our wounds or stories of pain in a meaningful and sensitive manner that can allow us to honor our journey, but not be held back by it?

What if today we named just ONE strength, then proceeded to honor it. Just be with this process. Embrace gratitude and awareness around it. When the process feels easier and lighter, we choose another attribute. We keep doing this until we find ourselves releasing our wounds and the story that we held on to.

These wounds can be physical, emotional, or social. People with woundology may define themselves by their hurts, rather than their strengths. They may continue to re-expose the trauma to themselves and others. This can interfere with work, relationships, and life fulfillment.

Maybe when we can get to this place of healing and release, we will more fully understand how to honor, experience and breathe through our pain without it consuming us.

Why does it always feel like a deep grieving process when something comes to an end?
Are you able to see that an end can almost always become a beginning?

I know that I can have a tendency to hold on to grief longer than is needed. Grief that inevitably needed to occur. I have been fearful of beginnings at times for they are unfamiliar, leave an uneasy feeling of endless questions and uncertainty. but mostly leave me sitting in fear.

What if we were to celebrate our endings?
What if we were to approach our beginnings in gratitude rather than fear?

These are big questions. It is not for me to process them for you. Here I am offering a bit of reflection for you to face on your journey. 

What will you do with this nudge today?

“The present moment is the only time over which we have dominion. The most important person is always the person you are with, who is right before you, for who knows if you will have dealings with any other person in the future? The most important pursuit is making the person standing at your side happy, for that alone is the pursuit of life.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh

I know that for myself, there is always a moment in the day where I just want to grab a cozy blanket, escape to the couch with a hot cup of tea and be. 

Life is so full for all of us, no matter what your circumstances are for you. When you are trying to balance the intricacies of living, it can be overwhelming at any given moment. Recognizing the present moment as sacred is so important. We need to pause, find our breath, and nurture our body, mind, and spirit. You are the person you are always with. If you do not take care of yourself, then you are not leaving enough room to take care of others in your life. How about we look at this truth, pause and remember ourselves and then we can take this sentiment to those in our lives. 

It begins at our core, in our soul and through our breath....

“We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community.”  ― Dorothy Day, The Long Loneliness: The Autobiography of the Legendary Catholic Social Activist

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I have been struck lately in a stronger way than usual with the idea of community and what that really means. Every month I host a Candlelight Labyrinth Meditation walk. It is a 100% Community Service offering. My daughter helps me for her service hours, which I am truly grateful for, for doing it alone is not just a lot of work, but it is lonely. 

I have been told to let it go, for the numbers aren't high and it tends to cost me money I don't have to spare. So, why do I do it? I have known loneliness. I don't think there is a person out there who has not known loneliness. For those who embrace this idea too often, these events are where they find a connection.

I am truly inspired every month, whether it be one or thirty folks who come out in the course of 2.5 hours. Never has someone come and gone without connecting with me before or after. I felt the needed and welcome connection within them.

How are you acting as 'community' daily? Really think about this...do you show up? Do you put your actions where your beliefs are?

We are no one and nothing but alone without each other. That was the foundation of this beautiful woman's work. Dorothy Day did not see the problems of person. She looked past their physical being into their eyes and soul and said, 'welcome home.'

How can you be 'home' to someone today?