photo by Hannah Sicherman

One day during acupuncture I decided to breathe intentionally.  I went through the alphabet and breathed in a sense of one thing that would inspire me.  I started with A and remarkably, went through every single letter.  It was surprisingly easy to come up with ideas.  There were so many.  I spent the session breathing in a multitude of wonderful sensations and felt as if I were receiving a life-giving, indulgent gift.  At the end of the session I felt as if I could fly.  My whole being was completely at ease and free and I felt grounded and connected to my power in a way I have not been used to throughout my life.

I would like to spend the next 26 days going through the alphabet with you in a form that is like a haiku for essays.  Possibly a paragraph or phrase each day that connects you to your self in ways that fill and nourish you and help you discover your own power.  I want to treat this process as a gift leading to my 60th birthday on December 23.  My birthday has never mattered very much to me.  I don’t like much attention and I don’t indulge in my self much.  This year feels different.  I still don’t want attention from the outside.  What I do passionately want is to focus on what it means to grow into my power as a woman.

Since last year’s presidential election hatred, bigotry and misogyny has come completely out of the closet into the light of day revealing the many injustices that all of us face if we are not white men.  My parent’s dying and the trauma and drama of dealing with that through the summer has emboldened me to live the rest of my life with courage and strength.  I want to bring all of my self to whatever I choose to invest my self to, and I want to help others do that as well.

I have received so much clarity and strength through writing these blogs.  Your comments have encouraged me to keep going and believe that very personal and painful feelings are much more universal than realized.  I want to share with you through this 26 day exercise ways to carry us to deeper strength and peace and into a more powerfully intimate contact with our selves.

I want us all to thrive .

Feel free to comment as you want.  I love your responses.  They are proof that we are not alone.  You are my brothers and sisters on this journey called living into love and the truth of being who we were meant to be.