It’s challenging enough sometimes as adults to navigate all that we are experiencing in this world right now, just think about how hard it might be as a kid. We are emerging from a long year of change and isolation and, in lots of cases, heartbreak, and it’s been hard for all of us. For little people, who often feel like they’re just along for the ride, it’s been a time steeped in seeming powerlessness.
On the morning of July 18, invited by Friends of the Bluff to kick off their first annual Brush on the Bluff event, I led a group of families on a grounding art hike. We took a short walk into the woods from the base of Spokane’s High Drive Bluff Park and found a shady spot under the Ponderosas. Then we started talking about our year. Through conversation, a guided meditation, and an introspective session of drawing what we see, we learned that when the world starts to seem hazy or dark, and we feel emotions of anxiety or fear growing inside, and we start to feel that we have no power to do anything or change anything, it’s time to stop and reconnect. When we do stop and find connection again, with ourselves and with the world, we allow our bodies and minds to calm down and we can find within us our own unwavering light, our own power, and our own hope. When we reconnect with that love at the core of us, we know where we are again, and who we are, and we can move with confidence into the fray. It was a helpful lesson for the kids, ages 5-11, and a hopeful reminder for all their big people too.
I’m grateful to Friends of the Bluff for allowing me to be part of such a beautiful community event.