​Dear Friends,

There’s this hiking trail we used to visit on the regular when we lived close to it.  It was a pretty consistent after school activity for my kids and me, and even more so in the summer.  My kids loved climbing boulder after boulder on the trail.  They would climb to the very top of the highest rock just to scare me.  My younger son and I just recently walked it and re-lived some great memories.

The trail is lovely and wooded, but it’s also sandwiched between two major roads, so for most of the walk one can hear traffic in the background.  There’s still the experience of the lovely nature and the beauty of the creek and of the water, sometimes you get to see a majestic blue heron on the water, but the sound of the city is there even in the midst of the trees and beauty.

But there is this one spot, a little off the first road, and well before the second road…….where the water is running a bit faster and the traffic just disappears.  You simply hear the sound of the water and of the woods around…..and nothing else.....and it is so very peaceful, even when knowing the city is so near.  There is this space of peace and quiet, of rest in the middle of chaos.  There is this space where all else disappears and you can fully immerse yourself in the world directly around you, where you can breathe a little deeper.

May we, this week, find a little more peace in the middle.  May we find pockets of rest, of quiet, of space in the middle of chaos.  May we breathe a little deeper this week.

Have a wonderful day dear friends, I am so very grateful for each of you!

Love
Krista​
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Dear Friends,

I was in the park the day after a big rain.  The sky was still grey and it was definitely still drizzling out.  And the creek, the creek was massive.  It was overflowing its banks, rushing and running so fast.  Rocks that were normally visible were hidden under the rush of waters.  It was large, and quick and a little dangerous.

The creek had so much more power and strength then it normally does.  It could do things faster and with so much more force.  It took up more space and affected the banks around it with its extra water.

All because the creek allowed a source outside itself to fill it.

Ok, ok, I know....the creek did not make a choice to allow the rain to fill it, that was a bit of a stretch there.  But go with me.

We are stronger, we are more powerful, we can get life done better when we allow ourselves to be filled, when we allow ourselves to find ways of self-care, when we show up for ourselves and give ourselves permission to be fed.  

What does allowing yourself to be filled look like to you?  How do you take care of yourself best?

May we, this week, allow ourselves to be filled, give ourselves permission to take a little self-care time in whatever way that looks like to you.
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Have a wonderful weekend dear friends, I am so very grateful for you.

Love
Krista
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​Dear Friends,

There’s this tree I pass in Rock Creek on the regular.  The tree is living, leaves will grow on it come spring, but it has a deep, deep bend in it.  It looks like a rainbow, arching its way toward the water.  It’s a beautiful and really fascinating tree to look at.

It’s alive, it has its roots in the soil, and it’s hanging on…...but the trees way of living isn’t sustainable.  Maybe not today, maybe not this year, but someday the weight of its own unsustainable curve will bring it down.  It can’t live bearing that much weight forever.

There’s a part of me that just wants to prop it up, to find a large branch and wedge it under so the tree doesn’t have to bear so much weight.  Turns out, I don’t have access to  the proper equipment to prop large trees, so I don’t know how I would do that.

I was thinking about that tree and its parallels to our lives on the regular, but especially in these interesting times we’re living in.  People are resilient, people are strong, but there’s only so much pressure people can sustain before breaking.

So, even though I can’t prop that tree up, what can we do to “prop” ourselves up, to take care of ourselves a little more, to perhaps take a little bit of the pressure off and make our curve a little more sustainable.  We might not be able to fix that curve, we might not be able to take the pressure away, but I think we can find ways to give ourselves some care, some support even when the pressure is still on.

This week, dear friends, can we care for ourselves a little more?  Are there ways we can prop ourselves up, we can give ourselves a little support?

Have a wonderful weekend dear friends.  I am so deeply grateful for you.

Love
Krista
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