the gift of stillness
still crying about the eclipse
This past week I swapped my Intention Of The Week newsletter energy for recording, editing and testing out the new Spring Time Hypnosis & Meditation album I’ve been working on.
Apparently the Spring Cleaning track I listened to yesterday is working because I had every intention of sitting down to create the cover art for the album this morning and instead spent hours opening up all the windows and deep diving into some cleaning, suddenly overcome with motivation to clear the energy of our home.
Watering the plants quickly turned into repotting some that were getting too big for their current homes. I love the action of repotting plants as a metaphor for us too. The way growth is inevitable when we give ourselves more space. When our roots can go deeper. Our stems can grow taller. Our leaves can sprawl further.
I still had a craving to sit down today and write a quick something to keep my weekly commitment. Writing something here every week lately has been an anchor point for me. Not only is it helping my writing muscle it’s helping my creative wheels turn again.
Thinking and sharing about my intention has also made me more accountable to using my DSWL planner this year. I’m glad I’m remembering to use it more because I know I’m going to look back on 2024 for the rest of my life as a really really really really pivotal year.
I started this last week with the intention of stillness in anticipation of the solar eclipse. I spent the morning curled up in the recording closet with my microphone. Lovingly reading the hypnosis scripts I’ve been writing — infusing all the energetics of release and renewal possible.
Then, I took myself to the park for the afternoon sky show. In Milwaukee we were at about 90% totality. I had my eclipse glasses for safe viewing and found an old pair in my camera case that I cut up and used to cover my camera lens so I could capture some video.
I laid there in awe as the temperature dropped and the light changed despite it being a beautiful warm sunny day without a cloud in the sky. The whole thing was surreal. I thought I would cry but instead I just felt overcome with glee and this feeling of one-ness.
My family group chat was pinging every couple of minutes as we spontaneously came together via text thread for the occasion, sharing our experience through solar glasses selfies and news reports of strange animal behavior.
There I was all alone in the park watching the same sky millions of people were also watching. Watching time move, literally. A moment that has the power to make you feel small, insignificant, big and important all at once.
Other moments I found stillness —
a beautiful walk on the break wall
lying on the floor after a workout to feel my heart rate come down
more intentional oatmeal bowl creations
juice prepping in the sunlight
crying while listening to this Ologies Podcast episode where Alie chased the eclipse
standing beneath a magnolia tree on the brink of blooming in my neighborhood
pressing pause on life and all to-dos to be whisked away for an afternoon of fun with my dear friend Natalie
lying on the PEMF mat while listening to the new hypnosis tracks
repotting the plants this morning
shopping at Trader Joe’s for flowers this afternoon
….I sense a theme of lists emerging here in the newsletter. And I’m okay with it because…look at that list! Not only is it a poem, it’s the proof. Making a list is like looking at the real raw data. That we did do the thing even if it felt like we didn’t. Maybe there were 280+ hectic or high-anxiety moments. But there were also 20-30 really beautifully still ones.
It can be so easy to generalize and distort everything to fit one narrative, but we are complex beings who are having a wide spectrum of moments and feelings every single day. Both the chaos and the stillness can exist at the same time, in the same week.
Who knows, maybe every week will be list poems? I just love them so much.
We will see what this new week brings ;)
With Love,
Jenna
Where in your life are you edging up against a growth spot? Where are your roots bunched up — needing more depth? What “container” do you anticipate follows the one you’re currently occupying? How far away does that next “container” feel?
Make a short and sweet list of 10-20 different ways you like to experience stillness. Write it on a piece of paper and tape it to your bathroom mirror or fridge so you always have the visual reminder to carve out those moments for yourself
I’ve been testing out all the tracks and I am so excited to share that the Spring Time Hypnosis & Meditation Album will be released on the Pink Full Moon (April 23)!!! All paid subscribers (new and seasoned) will be getting the album for free as a thank you for being here!
KP and I are facilitating our third and final iteration of Actively Missing You Poetry Writing Workshop at Lynden Sculpture Garden next Saturday April 20th from 1pm-4pm. Together we will celebrate and honor our ever evolving relationship to nature and continue to explore themes of grief, change and loss — this time through the lens of of our relationship to the places that make us and change us. Come write poems with us!! Registration is open here!
