Connections

By Maryanna Gabriel

Banff 

"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate." Carl Jung

There it was. My travel bag. Gleaming nonchalantly in the afternoon light. It feels good to be on the move again. One definition of resilience is "returning to original form after being compressed, bent or stretched." Me and my  travel bag and one on this. Over the mountains we flew to the land where my daughter dwells with her husband and together we traveled to Lake Minnewanka, home of the Stoney people, meaning "Lake of the Spirits". It felt wonderful to connect. "I promise it won't be long ere we reconnoiter once more," I tenderly whisper as I stow my bag. Here back at home the sun has emerged and I hear the froggies calling. When the froggies call it is a sign of spring. It feels good to hear them.

You've Got To Keep Watering It

“Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit.” Kahil Gibran

By Maryanna Gabriel 

From the earth we are born and to the earth we return but within that mysterious matrix that the Greeks called pneuma. I have been researching the varied and multitudinous chemical responses our body endures when in grief and marveling at the intricacies of our physical being. I have been borrowing the reserves and I am discovering there is no more pay forward. I am all tapped out. My body has a clear agenda of love me and take care of me or else. There isn't too much I can do about it and my mind is helplessly hostage. Finally. Fortunately. The body carries our deeper truths, our stories, what is unacknowledged and to this we are bound. I am astonished at how much wiser my cells are than I am. I know in my heart that in the caring for and loving ourselves we are better able to extend this outwards. The heart wants to contract in grief but to heal, the energy needs to keep moving. As with our muscles, our heart is the same, use it or lose it. Resilience is key.

Tulips For Mom

“ We've got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can’t just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it’s going to get on by itself. You've got to keep watering it. You've got to really look after it and nurture it.” John Lennon

Magnificent Heart

By Maryanna Gabriel

For a planet that is 4.8 billion years old, give or take, the burning inferno within the core is what gives us life. It is hotter than the surface of the sun and is thousands of kilometers wide. Tornadoes of molten, liquid metal, tower and storm upwards in columns, generating an electromagnetic force that may be felt from space. This creates the shield around the earth that protects us from solar winds. Without our molten core which mysteriously burns ever onward we would not be able to sustain life on the surface. Our very survival depends on it. It is our earth’s heart. The scale of magnificence of all of this warmth is encouraging.