Active Observer/Layers
Living gratefully today, I appreciate the range and depth of human emotions. I also give thanks for new memories made, even under some sorrowful circumstances.
On our recent trip to attend my sister Mary Jo's celebration of life service, and to spend time together as a family, I tried to be an active observer. Listening. Watching. Taking in. Feeling. Writing. Experiencing.
I can deepen the experience and tap into more genuine feelings when I observe and absorb instead of always thinking and doing. We are a large and varied crew and there is often plenty of moving and talking going on at the same time. Observing can sometimes be more insightful than participating.
I treasured a few minutes of sitting in a nearby room and eavesdropping on eight family members playing a raucous game of euchre. I was journaling and listening. The laughter and the playful banter felt so healing and so needed after Jo's service and all the emotions that have been swirling around in recent months and since her death.
There are layers of grief, layers of history, layers of healing. Each of us has our own set of layers, and we also have family layers. I forget who said it, but at one point one family member put it this way in a conversation we were having: "A variety of people experiencing a variety of emotions in a variety of ways." Yep!
I observed this rock formation, located near the rental home several of us were staying at, numerous times throughout our days there. The rock layers symbolize the emotional layers we had while there and will continue to process:
On our recent trip to attend my sister Mary Jo's celebration of life service, and to spend time together as a family, I tried to be an active observer. Listening. Watching. Taking in. Feeling. Writing. Experiencing.
I can deepen the experience and tap into more genuine feelings when I observe and absorb instead of always thinking and doing. We are a large and varied crew and there is often plenty of moving and talking going on at the same time. Observing can sometimes be more insightful than participating.
I treasured a few minutes of sitting in a nearby room and eavesdropping on eight family members playing a raucous game of euchre. I was journaling and listening. The laughter and the playful banter felt so healing and so needed after Jo's service and all the emotions that have been swirling around in recent months and since her death.
There are layers of grief, layers of history, layers of healing. Each of us has our own set of layers, and we also have family layers. I forget who said it, but at one point one family member put it this way in a conversation we were having: "A variety of people experiencing a variety of emotions in a variety of ways." Yep!
I observed this rock formation, located near the rental home several of us were staying at, numerous times throughout our days there. The rock layers symbolize the emotional layers we had while there and will continue to process:
And this is the beautiful Colorado sunset on the evening of June 27, the day of Jo's service, a day that ranged from the finality of Jo's death to the hysterics of a family sing-along:
Be an active observer today. Surprise yourself with what you notice.
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