Resilience in the midst of forest fires – Releasing grief

How about a Sunday contribution. Do you have a story of resilience you’d like to share? It can be large or small. I love reading others experiences as it refills my hope and confidence for my own struggles.

I had a small but powerful one this week. I’m in British Columbia on holidays and right in the middle of all the forest fires. Some days, I could taste the smoke. I come here for the lake. I love to swim and every summer, my nervous system grows more steady as the water heals me in ways dry land can’t.

This summer, the smoke has kept me inside. But one day, I was called to it so deeply that in 20 degree Celsius weather, raining, and smoke in the air, I went into the lake. I was cold and my lungs hurt but sinking into the water made my soul sing. Listening to the quiet cause no one else was out, the raindrops on the water, the sky above me trying to shine, and the water around me holding me like a mom holding a baby, I wept. I wept for the earth and the animals caught in the fire. I wept for my lungs breathing in the smoke, and I wept for me feeling at home even with all this cause I was in the water. I let the water hold me as I cried. It felt baptismal, it was so huge.

When I left, I realized that I will do whatever I desire in the face of adversity if my soul calls for it. And my body will respond beautifully with so much support and release. I didn’t need perfect conditions to swim. I just needed to fill my inner need to do so. I let go of some perfectionism that day.

I also took a bunch of vitamin C to aid my immune system.

That’s my story of resilience in the face of environmental blocks. What’s yours? Do you feel like a Sunday share? Or Monday in some parts of the world. Maybe we can create an uplifting mood for the start of the week.