When I decided to blog about turning sixty-five, I imagined that I would be very brave and share the blog on social media. I had big ideas about interviewing experts on topics that are relevant to those of us in our sixties; bladder control, wrinkle eradication, weight loss and muscle building, make-up tips for the maturing face, hair loss, tooth whitening, supplements, batwings... you get the idea... but as I tried to embrace all of that, I realized that more than anything, I need to be authentic on this journey and love and loss and joy and sorrow... so much more important than "Poise" pads.
My Angel's Whispers came into being in 2008 and there was only one year, 2010, that I was faithful to my daily writing and that was because I was doing it with Shannon...My Angel.
Every day I would begin with the entries from her Gratitude Journal, and that would be my prompt for memories and synchronicities and "Whispers".
One day in October, I decided to print those pages so that I would have a hard copy. Magically, as I was looking through those entries, a Pop up ad appeared for Blog2Print. It was a little more than I had intended to spend, but reasonable when you consider time and paper and ink, so I followed the ad to their web site. In less than fifteen minutes, this incredible technology had compiled every entry for ten years into one volume. I had written my book. I picked a cover photo, entered my credit card and voila'... My Angel's Whispers.
When the book arrived I was amazed. It is beautiful. The quality of the paper and photographs far exceeded my expectations and I couldn't believe how much of my life I had forgotten. At the end of 2020, I hope to have volume 2, filled with life and wisdom and wonder.
I considered starting a new blog space for 65 but my journey continues with Shannon. Not in the traditional Mother Daughter way that I always imagined, but loving her transformed me, and why should that change just because our relationship is no longer "traditional". So My Angel's Whispers continues.
So here we are. Today it snowed. I love the gentle hypnotic way that nature blankets everything in softness. I also love that it invites you to snuggle up with indoor tasks that have been pushed to the side for far too long. Today the snow invited me to create the space for my Flower Essence course of study. Candles, crystals, essences, a photo of Christ, mala beads, books, a pen that has the word Inspire on the side, my notebook...that coincidentally says " Life isn't about finding yourself. It's about creating yourself, " and photos of Shannon.
This room has been a guest room, a library, an office, a craft space, art space, work space and most recently, Helen's room. So, there is a litter box, a cat tree, food and water bowls and several cat beds because she is very pampered and a little older than me in cat years.
This space is perfect for reflecting and remembering and learning and sharing and 65 seems far less daunting in this space on a snow day. BUT, I have decided to keep it safe, instead of public, for those of you who magically join me. I can't write thinking that I am incredibly self centered and there is someone else out there hanging on every word, but I can write knowing that if you are meant to join me, you will, and I will be so glad to have you. ( Of course, if one day I wake up incredibly wise and write something so eloquent that it simply must be shared, well, you might see an invitation on Facebook. )
I imagine that I will get to the ordinary stuff that concerns us all, but I'm going to ease into it. Unfortunately some things don't change with age and I know myself well enough to accept that I can't be too fixed in my schedule or too broad in my topics right away, or I will give up before I begin.
I have already missed several days but every task requires a wee bit of planning and a great deal of flexibility so I'm starting slow, being gentle with myself and looking forward to what is to come. For right now, in this minute, I think there is an Angel watching over my shoulder and I am so grateful.