From Shane Pinata,
I'm Colleen Thomas.
This is Everyday Magic for Ukraine.
Today we honor loss and the rebirth of self.
Welcome to the Circle.
Welcome to Everyday Magic for Ukraine where we honor Ukraine and also practice self-care to stay strong as allies.
If you're new here,
Welcome.
So the item we're going to use today is the image of a butterfly.
But first,
I want to invite you to land.
I want to invite you to take a breath or do a little shaking or do whatever you need to do to arrive in this moment.
Maybe picture where you have been today,
The places you've been recently,
And imagine that you are catching up to yourself in this moment.
You're arriving here for just a short meditation of being present and being calm.
I'd like to invite you to go on a journey with us now.
What if we,
As a Circle,
Go to a beautiful field that is full of native plants and wildflowers?
And what if we all kind of plop ourselves down or find a comfortable spot on that field and just take some time to notice?
Maybe notice the blue sky and see the colors of the flowers,
Maybe even noticing some of your favorite flowers.
And maybe you notice a butterfly or two flying around just happily,
Kind of flitting,
Kind of minding his or her own business,
Just doing butterfly things,
Just butterflying.
And we're playing with this image of the butterfly today because it is,
Of course,
A wonderful metaphor for rebirth,
Rebirth of self in life.
How many times are we reborn during our lives?
And while you're sitting here on this earth,
In this safe place,
If you want to,
Call to mind something in your life that has been a loss.
My invitation to you is to go very gently here and don't pick the biggest loss you've ever had.
Instead,
Maybe think of something that feels okay to think about today.
Maybe look a little bit into this loss in terms of how did it change you?
What kind of openness or emptiness did it create for you?
And now I'm going to ask you a question that I was asked by a professional person the last time I dealt with a really big loss,
Which was this.
What new things have you been doing?
What new things have you been doing since you went through that loss?
What new aspects of your life have come online?
What new interests have you developed?
In other words,
What has been birthed in you within that empty space after that loss?
What is new?
How have you changed and actually maybe grown?
How have you changed and actually maybe grown?
In the case of Ukraine,
There has been,
Of course,
So much loss.
And there are also so many new connections.
People from all over the world reaching out to learn about Ukraine,
To support Ukraine,
To learn the Ukrainian language,
To travel to Ukraine to volunteer.
New friendships,
New connections.
New connections.
And this is by no means meant to minimize the loss that Ukraine has gone through or any of us have gone through.
This is just to notice alongside that loss what else is happening.
To get a fuller picture,
The full mandala of the experience,
A loss and an openness,
An emptiness,
And then also something new.
You could call it a rebirth.
It might feel like that.
It might not.
But see how it feels to you.
And again,
In the case of Ukraine,
I want to point out that just your being here is something that is new.
The way you have come to this circle today to be part of this group that meets on the inner regardless of space and time,
This is new.
So just noticing if it feels good to you,
The breeze on your skin,
The blue sky above us in circle.
Is your butterfly still there?
Maybe take one last look around the scene.
And when you're ready,
We're going to begin to transition back into our day,
Back into our night,
Back into our space.
Noticing what you're sitting,
Standing,
Or lying on,
Feeling the weight of your body dropping down and just bringing back with you any learnings,
Anything that feels good to you from that little journey we went on.
You can notice throughout today where your butterfly energy wants to go.
And your butterfly energy is always welcome here with us in circle,
Always.
And may we always remember that after loss,
There can be surprising new connections.
May it be so.
Thank you so much for being here with us today.
Your presence,
Your energy,
And your heart make all the difference in healing our world.
Remember to breathe today,
Breathe and expand.
And I hope you join us again next time.
Please consider inviting a friend.
