Returning to the Root

The return to the root is peace. Peace: to accept what must be and know what endures. In that knowledge is wisdom. without it ruin, disorder.

Lao Tzu

It’s so hard to believe we are scooting our way into August already. It seems like just a few weeks ago it was just the beginning of summer…..but at the same time I feel like its been summer for an age or two already. Of course, being eight months pregnant and the heat are probably contributing to this feeling of impatience and can-we-just-hurry-up-already that are plaguing me lately. One can hardly help it, I suppose: I can hardly wait to meet my son, I want my body back intensely, and I have been dreaming of cool autumn mornings and rainfall.

However.

Amidst this feeling are flashes of intense gratitude-gratitude for my body, for my family and friends, for my garden, and for everything I am experiencing right now. Because I know this moment in time will not last forever, and before I know it I will be experiencing life a completely different way-as a mother. I simultaneously feel as if this pregnancy has flown by and that I have been pregnant literally forever. Although, if you think about it, I have been pregnant all year so there is that.

These feelings have been keeping me from enjoying the moment and from making much progress in way of writing my series on the virtues…because of course the one I chose to tackle next was patience. The very virtue I seem to be lacking as of late has appeared to be my bane.

The solution to this is returning to the root, and for me the root is always gratitude.

Gratitude is such an important part of everyone’s spiritual and mental wellbeing. It brings you back into the moment and is the truest form of self care imaginable! Time and time again I always come back to gratitude as it always gives me peace. Peace: to accept what must be and know what endures.

And so, to return to the root, here are some of the things I am grateful for at the moment:

Best friends and kittens

I recently reconnected with a dear friend of mine. We had lunch and I visited her house, where she had the cutest little kittens running around! it was truly a boon to my soul to catch up with her, see her home, and to pet these tiny little creatures.

Sunsets.

Need I say more?

Perfectly matching nail polish.

Something I always have enjoyed is painting my fingernails-although I hadn’t really had time to (or even really thought about it) until I visited my friend and she offered to paint my nails. They turned out so very pretty and they even matched the dress I was wearing that day perfectly! I’m a big fan of the matte look, too.

Learning new things.

A while ago I decided I wanted to learn how to sew-and with help from my mom I am slowly but surely learning the ropes. Here, we have collaborated to make a baby blanket for my son! While I am not yet proficient at the sewing machine and I don’t have one of my own, it was so rewarding to work on a project together with my mom-something to really be grateful for. A bonus? The cute little pillows we also made!

A good harvest.

Gardening has always been a touch-and-go kind of thing with me, but this year we have really hit it off nicely. The other morning I decided I needed to harvest some things and clean up a little after coming back from my parent’s house for a visit, so that’s exactly what I did. I harvested some blackberries from my front yard (I did not plant those intentionally, they are 100% wild weeds) some orange and green bell peppers, as well as some kale. I blanched and froze the kale in small portions for use in cooking over the winter months-or whenever, really. I find its always nice to save something to have on hand for later use.

And finally, I am grateful for my body.

It has carried me and my son through this incredible journey and will continue to do so for a while now. While I feel the many aches and pains of the third trimester, on the whole I am doing well and am relatively comfortable. I have no complications as far as I know of, and seem to be taking pregnancy pretty well. So while I am 100% ready to meet my son and ready for the change in seasons, I know that I will only be this way for a finite amount of time and I am trying to enjoy it to the best of my ability.

JJC

Originally published at http://imperfectionfreak.wordpress.com on August 2, 2021.