MARCH NEWSLETTER

BRINGING LIGHT AND BEAUTY INTO OUR HOMES DURING DARK DAYSWe are the keepers of the hearth. Like Aquarius pouring her waters over the Earth we pour the healing balm of beauty and light into all the corners of our homes. We heal with our warm, tasty, nourishing food, we heal with our kind and wise words, we heal with fresh clean sheets and with flowers on the table. Long after toys and gifts are forgotten the light we bring into our homes will continue to bring joy to our families. They will return to that beauty and light during their dark days and the memory of this warmth will lift their spirits once again. The power of beauty should not be underestimated. A Zen garden has both vegetables to feed the body and flowers to feed the soul. When my mother was dying we brought her home for her final days. Under the best of circumstances families can push one another's buttons like no one else. With the tension of my mother's transition this tendency was even stronger. We focused on my mother's well being through the kind and skillful help of hospice. I made my home beautiful for the family. I kept candles burning, the house clean and a special aromatherapy blend was burning day and night. My home smelled like jasmine, Melissa and sandalwood. There was warm food to eat and fresh flowers in every room. This winter I was called upon once again to make the home light and beautiful. With another family member in crisis, the dark rainy days pressing down on us, I once again prepared fresh warm food, lit candles and burned an aromatherapy lamp. I created order by cleaning and not allowing the space to become cluttered. A fire brought light and warmth into the dark room and blankets and pillows were available for comfort on the sofas. We stayed in the darkness together and remembered the light. On bright summer days we take the light for granted. On dark days we bring the light in and savor it. Beauty, cleanliness and light remind us of the order behind the chaos and the joy behind the pain. Darkness and pain are a part of the human condition. Every life is touched by sadness, betrayal, disease old age and death. If we try to stay in denial of this we create more pain for ourselves. If we accept the darkness but burn a candle in the midst of the darkness we relax and move through our pain in a natural, healthy way. So I pay homage to the mothers who make soup on flu days, to the mothers who clean their homes with love in their hearts for their family, to the mothers who light candles on dark days, to the mothers who make what could be unbearable sadness an opportunity for transformation. Bless you.

Jacqueline

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