I’m moved to write a reflection this year, 2022, on each day of Advent, a season that ends on Christmas Eve. Two phrases are on my mind: “the hush of waiting” and “hope for finding beauty in the dark.”
When my first husband, Jim, died in a car wreck on Christmas Eve in 1999, I thought the peace and beauty of the holiday season were forever lost. However, 22 years later, I feel a deeper sense of hush and am more aware of the brilliance around me than I could have imagined was possible. We are built to heal. We are built to connect always with the peace and beauty at our core. We heal in the hush of a quiet heart and through a spiritual eye that sees beauty and brilliance even in the darkest moments.
“What would you like to bury your husband in?” the kind undertaker said. His brown eyes were pools of compassion. We were in a room filled with caskets. I’d just chosen Jim’s final bed – a brown coffin lined in ivory satin. The scene felt Daliesque. Watery winter sun lost a competition with florescent lights to brighten the room, a shrine to death. “Not a suit,” I said, “They weren’t his cup of tea.”
That night in a hushed house, I sat next to the Christmas tree in the living room and unwrapped two of the presents Jim would never open: a soft butter yellow and cocoa brown plaid flannel shirt and a pair of gold suspenders. I remembered how excited I’d felt in the department store when I’d found them. The colors were perfect!
I held the gifts to my chest and sobbed. As I look back on that memory and see myself, so broken and alone, I am aware of the value of suspending judgement and holding feelings with tenderness. We are given everything we need on our journeys. Hush is the path; beauty is the destination.
© Linda Sandel Pettit, Ed.D., 2022
Photo by Jan Cantry, courtesy of www.unsplash.com
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Linda Sandel Pettit, Ed.D. inspires intuitive-creative women healers to use their healing modalities, speaking voices, and written words to unfold and share the wisdom of the Sacred Feminine.
Linda offers sanctuaries, intimate small-group programs, to women healers who want to bring the 3 Principles into their work, and to women writers who are ready to share, get feedback, revise, and publish.
Through her Apprentice’s Way individual all-in-one mentorship program, Linda encourages her clients’ spiritual evolution, psychological health, effective writing, messaging, marketing, and content creation.
Visit www.lindasandelpettit.com to learn more about her programs and array of masterclasses and courses.
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