Garden of Hope

We have been working in our Spring and Summer garden over the last few weeks. Sean and I set up a grow station in our house this year to watch our seeds grow from the very beginning. We mapped out our timeline, when to start our seeds, and when to transfer them. It may not sound like the most thrilling of days and I’m sure there are less “thought provoking” ways to garden, but the way we choose to garden inspires and gives us something to continually look forward to, it gives us hope. Getting back into the warmth of the spring growing season has me thinking a lot about the growth of the last year. Many of you know that Sean and I went through three pregnancy losses this last year. It’s changed me. It’s changed the way I relate to the world, to other women, and to God. I feel more compassionate and empathic. I find my heart is softer and my eyes are quicker to tears for the pain and joys of others. It’s made me more attuned to my own self-care needs. It’s change the way I talk to God; I...

“I understood that every flower created by Him is beautiful, that the brilliance of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not lessen the perfume of the violet or the sweet simplicity of the daisy. I understood that if all the lowly flowers wished to be roses, nature would no longer be enameled with lovely hues. And so it is in the world of souls, Our Lord's living garden.”  --St. Thérèse de Lisieux This week is Maternal Mental Health week, a week dedicated to bringing awareness to the ever-present issue of a mother’s wellbeing. It seems strange to have a week dedicated to an issue that feels so pervasive in my own life and the life of many women. Before COVID, 21 % of those who gave birth will have a mood disorder during the perinatal period and that number jumps to over 30% for women of color ( statistics from mindbodybabync.org ). I’m sure those numbers are climbing since the pandemic ( see this article for more on that  click here ) Through my involvement with Mindbodyb...