Holy Day Blessings
Ciao and Sacred Sunday:
I hope this finds you well and enjoying the holiday season.
This week’s Sacred Sunday is arriving in your inbox today as it’s the last day to receive my birthday savings on, The Roadmap to Legacy, Virtual Online Course, and you really don’t want to miss out.
Plus, I’ll be retreating at Casa Bodemaglio’s for the holidays, returning to Sacred Sunday musings January 9, 2022.
🙄For many of us it’s so easy to get caught up in the holi-daze and forget that this is a season for connection with friends and family. As well as a potent time for self-reflection and the planting of heart seeds.
Unfortunately, the bombardment of media messages tells you and me “what we should” be feeling and what we “should” be experiencing, as if we’re living in a Norman Rockwell painting.
Yet for many people the holidays are challenging and bring up feelings of loneliness and isolation.
😍So, I encourage you not only to be kind and compassionate to yourself these busy days, but to be kind and compassionate to the salesperson at Macy’s, the checker at Safeway, the delivery person who is frantically doing their best to get your packages delivered on time, and the homeless person standing on the corner that pierces your heart so deeply it’s more comfortable to look away.
You might have guessed that I love words and their etymology – the word holiday comes from the Old English, hālig “holy” + dæg “day”? Originally it was only referring to special religious days. Like many old English, Latin and French words, they’ve evolved over time.
No matter what your religious affiliation might be, I invite you to consider the original use of the word. And feel into how holy this time of year truly is.
❄️And while December is a month filled with many holy days; Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, in the northern hemisphere, we also honor the Winter Solstice.
🌗The shortest day and longest night of the year, the winter solstice, has been revered by many cultures for thousands of years.
🌗The solstice occurred this past Tuesday, December 21, 2021, yet the energy starts to build at Samhain, or Halloween, and continues into the New Year.
So, no worries if you weren’t aware or had forgotten. You still have time to pause and reflect on the beauty and symbolism the solstice evokes.
I encourage you to incorporate a solstice ritual into your year-end reflection. Schedule a time in your calendar as if you were planning a trip to visit a dear friend.
🧘🏻♀️While many people across the world travel to be with family during this season, the solstice is a time to travel inward. The good news, you can do both!
Here are seven ideas that might spark resonance.
💛Find a corner in one of your rooms and designate it “sacred space”. Cleanse the area with sweetgrass or sage. Adorn a table or shelf with items reflecting the season. Perhaps a pinecone, an evergreen branch, or a star ornament.
💛Light a gold or silver candle representing the return of the sun and the lengthening of day with its radiant light and warmth.
💛Take time to sit in solitude, for even just five minutes, and give thanks for the gift of your breath. Ask for blessings on your loved ones, friends, community, and all sentient beings.
💛Journal and write down one of your greatest accomplishments of 2021. Record what brought you the most joy.
💛Be honest with yourself as you take authorship of your life. Do it with self-love and compassion. Then write out where you want to make a shift. Acknowledge what challenge you moved through with grace and dignity. Forgive yourself for any missteps, muddles or mistakes you made along the way.
💛Choose what area in your life you want to expand. Identify what virtue(s) you want to become more of. Embrace a word that has meaning for you and identifies what you desire in 2022.
💛Then finally, invite a circle of loving friends to join you and give thanks for the oneness that connects us all.
And remember to observe the holy as it appears in the simplicity of life’s unfolding.
With love and appreciation, xoxo Paulette
“Taking part in The Roadmap to Legacy course, has allowed me the opportunity to examine my life as the person I am today. Brushed free from the older patterns and self- identifying responses that have carried me through my life, as a dancer, wife, and mother. Through Paulette’s guidance I am rediscovering the details of my own life and absorbing their historical lessons with a healthy forgiving heart. The path ahead feels authentically me.” Karen B.
The Roadmap to Legacy is a powerful tool and a much-needed map for the world we find ourselves in today. Paulette Bodeman shares her knowledge and wisdom with a set of insightful modules that helps us each individually look at our lives, our decisions, and our dreams. ❤Donna I.
