Entry 64: Questions, Art and Learnings from 2021

2021 was transformational – revelations bloomed and decades-long dynamics shifted like tectonic plates each month.  i imagine that the next phase of this trek in 2022 will continue to require strength and vulnerability, and so it felt important to reflect and gather some of the wisdom from the year.   After revisiting my journal entries, music playlists, bookmarked poems and art, i have documented some of the questions, the poems, music and art that shaped, inspired, comforted and accompanied me.  The lessons of 2021 were rich, and I am deeply grateful for them; i wonder if they will be the seeds of 2022.

Questions that accompanied my path

Where is my community? Where does my deepest happiness lie? What brings me joy? What does reparations look like? What does healing feel like in our body(ies)?  What is possible with healing, for us as individuals and as a collective? What would happen if we saw each other with our hearts instead of our intellects? Does this next action or word bring more LOVE into the world? Who am I, to myself, without the male, paternal gaze? How will I use my voice? How have the habits of migration of my ancestors been reflected in my life?

• Art, Music, Poems that brought me solace and life force this year:
  • Resistance Revival Chorus, “This Joy”
  • Sara Bareilles, “Little Voice”
  • Brian Kirhagis, E.A.R.T.H. #1 
  • Angelique Kidjo, “Mother Nature”
  • Naima Penniman – “Being Human”
  • David Whyte – “True Love”
  • Amanda Gorman – “The Hill We Climb”
  • Colin Hay – “Waiting for my real life to begin”
  • Alicia Keys – “Girl on Fire”
  • John O’Donohue – “For a new beginning”
  • Thomas Schaller – “Evening Descends”

• Learnings:
  • My integrity is worth fighting for.  I hold great power in my mindful attention and my truthful words.
  • Rivers can hold my tears and can absorb my pain, and can prop me up, until I am ready to float and be buoyed with inspiration.
  • The moon has taught me to flow with the rhythms of my body, emotions, thoughts and inspirations.  Life is not meant to be lived linearly. I find ease in the waves and ebbs of the experience of life events…  it’s like dancing with the weather  – sometimes stormy, sometimes sunny and calm, other times windy or cold.  
  • Art, poetry, music, films can touch and mirror the depth of a heart and the beauty of a life.  
  • Love is not about a person, it’s about how we show up in the truest reflection of what is in our heart.    Love changes shape, and being true to it, means accepting the ways it does show up, even when we might be expecting something different.
  • Speaking my truth gives me superpowers.  It connects my heart, my gut, my mind, and voice.
  • The vibratory power of my name, as I was named by my ancestors : MO-nee-ka
  • I can trust my body, I can flow with my feelings, and I can trust my instincts

“Love is not about a person, it’s about how we show up in the truest reflection of what is in our heart.”