It is officially winter. My parting experience from fall, and my welcoming experience into winter will give me plenty to take into my winter inner travels to integrate, gestate, and bring form to in the spring.

I recently went back to my former full time home, Maui to support a close friend through her final passage in this incarnation. I arrived only three days before she left her body. It was the end of fall, the end of her life, the ultimate let go that the essence of fall embodies. I was honored to witness her process of letting go in those final days, recognizing that the more she let go the more she felt the love and compassion pouring her way from our community of caregivers. She left this life feeling loved and cared for, just as it should be, and, she gave us the gift of witnessing her final breath as she took it with eyes wide open and a smile on her face.

I was actively working the piece of letting go of control so I could open to a deeper connection to inner guidance before I went to Maui this fall. What I was given was the ultimate example. Just one of the many examples I was to receive showing me how life opens up and gives you what you need.

Now, I have obviously been restoring my relationship with the Divine Feminine throughout my journey in this lifetime. Hence the book I have written. This experience showed me there was a deeper level of work for me to do to reclaim my ability to open, and receive while letting go of what I think it should look like. Just like my friend at the end of her life, my needs are met, my soul is leading the way, just stay awake, even if it is your last breath, let go, and you will be met with LOVE. She left on the dark of the moon at the darkest time of the year on Dec12th. By the time we carried her body through the remainder of this sacred ritual it was time to go home.

I left Maui to return to my home in the mountains outside of Asheville, NC. I almost couldn’t take in all the love, appreciation, and kindness I was surrounded by. I kept feeling that I just needed some quiet time to integrate this experience so I don’t waste the incredible gift my friend left me with. I could see that there was some work to do of my own around receiving.

Upon returning home I was met by a big snow storm. I was stranded in my home on the mountain with my car stuck in a ditch halfway down my windy dirt road. The power lines came down along with the phone lines. The pump for the well doesn’t run without electricity. Nothing to do for days except be still, quiet, and integrate. I was given exactly what I needed. Now I am continuing to be quiet in the stillness of winter, stoking my wood burning stove, going deeper into the gift my world has offered up for my growth and reclamation of a shy, somewhat dormant piece of myself that is essential. I am much more conscious of how it feels to meet the world with a tight fist or an open receptive hand. The recent experiences have once again given me the reminder that I can trust that the jewels of life will land in my welcoming palm.

My beloved friend’s name was Joy. How poignant to also be reminded that I can learn through Joy. Thank you my beloved dear sister. Your parting gift was gratefully received and will not be wasted.