Greetings! This past month, I had a lot of time to reflect on the idea of “storm” as Hurricane Helene intersected with our path in Western North Carolina on September 27th. A storm like that stirs up everything we know and leaves deep marks, changing the landscape of many family’s lives, including ours.
I can relate to all the stories we are sharing on our Love for Analogue page this month.
We had the pleasure of interviewing Nalani and her analogue system. Even though her growing family is experiencing a big shift (new baby!!), her approach is grounding and calming, and the energy translates to her journal pages. I think you will find her insights about slow life inspiring and resonant.
Trina opens up to let us know that one of her ways to navigate the stressful season has been to lean into the analogue planner system. I read her story and felt so seen. Immediately after the hurricane, while we lost all of our utilities for a good two weeks, one way I could keep going with the day was to write down everything I was hoping to tackle with a check box and mark the box as I went through the day. Those days were filled with brain fog, and it was challenging to hold onto a lot of information. Even though those spreads are starkly different from my other JIYU Weekly pages, which are usually filled with inspiration and life insights, I treasure them today because they helped keep me sane through challenging days. Those days are an important part of my experience in Asheville, and I don’t want to forget them.
When I was reading A.C.’s story, I was sitting on a cold bathroom floor in a motel in Orange County where our family was staying. Why? Because we were visiting LA, and I was struggling with never-ending jetlag. I tried to work with BK while the kids were still sleeping at 4 a.m. I am so glad I had a quiet and private quarter to read their story “On Writing Out of Fear” because I wanted to sit with it for a while to let the idea sink in deeply - the idea to keep writing in acceptance of fear... and with the hope to grow out of fear or grow bigger than fear eventually.
I do feel it, too, right now—storms around and within us. I'm practicing to be a witness to them and maybe even dance with them, but mostly surrendering the part of me that wants to hold onto the desire to control. I have been journaling a lot through October, not necessarily “documenting” my post-hurricane experiences, but rather co-processing those moments with an open page… and finding meditational moments between the urgency of survival modes.
On one of those mornings, as I practiced my morning meditation with Jeannie, my dear friend and teacher in Asheville, the image of a hand came to me. The arm lowered from the cloud above and grabbed my hand steadily, pulling my whole body up high in the air. Before I knew it, I was swinging in the air, held only by this arm… and feeling free. I saw many people doing the same, swinging on silks with joy and laughter. When I came out of the medication, I made sure to jot down the details, and the image became such a concrete vision of hopefulness. The hopefulness that comes from understanding that our capacity to control is limited and that it is okay not to be the constant architect of our lives.
My wish for this month’s love letter is to pass the image to you in some way if it feels good to you - the feeling of swinging freely, high above in the sky, as a gentle reminder to surrender and know that you are held and safe.
-wakako
always a work in progress...
somewhere between here and otherworld // November 1st, 2024
**This is from our BK Love Letter for November 2024.
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