Feelings Fitness Podcast
Feelings Fitness Podcast
220. Embracing Love and Legacy: Thanksgiving Memories and Spiritual Healing After Loss
As I stepped through the familiar doorway of my childhood home, the air was heavy with both nostalgia and loss; Thanksgiving this year marked not just a gathering of family, but also a poignant remembrance of my mother. The house, still echoing with the essence of her love, became a sanctuary where traditions she cherished brought her memory to life. In our latest episode, I unfold the emotions of this homecoming, revealing the solace found in the spaces and rituals that my mother left behind. We pay a visit to the adoration chapel, where her spiritual legacy is eternally honored, and I share how embracing our spiritual foundations can guide us through the shadows of grief.
This week's conversation is a testament to the enduring power of love, as we navigate the bittersweet transformation of holidays after a loss. Echoing the sentiments of Liz Newman, we acknowledge that the constancy of love weaves through the changing tapestry of traditions. I invite you on an intimate exploration of the past year's journey—from the depths of sorrow to the peaks of spiritual connection. Together, we reflect on the importance of nurturing our spiritual well-being and the strength we draw from it to move forward, carrying the legacy of those who have departed in the warmth of our continued celebrations and memories.
Welcome to the Feelings Fitness Podcast. Let's flash back to 2023, when we took a 52 week road trip together to discuss home health, happiness and habits. We created a road trip to work towards feeling fit mind, body and spirit. Now we'll revisit those 52 weeks in just 52 days. There are many more adventures in store for 2024, but let's look back on how far we've come and set ourselves up for more success.
Speaker 0:Welcome to week 48 of our 52 week road trip through 2023 together. It is mind blowing to me that we only have four weeks left together, but what I want to say is it's not the end. There is much more in store, and I've absolutely loved creating these kind of mini episodes, establishing this home, health and happiness framework or formula, or whatever you want to call it, and the plan is to regroup at the end of the year, take a little bit of time off and then come back with the same framework this home, health and happiness but making the weekly episodes a little bit more fruitful and perhaps even adding in some experts to share their expertise on these different topics as well. So rest assured that we are not ending this whole thing. We are simply wrapping up the 52 weeks, taking a little pause and then jumping into some more goodness afterwards. So I hope you have really embraced this journey and I hope you look at it like a journey, not a destination, and progress, not perfection. So keep at it and, honestly, just by being here is enough. Just listening in and being open-minded with some of the suggestions is really a feat in and of itself. So kudos to you for joining in, and there is always time to implement if you haven't already done so.
Speaker 0:So last week I had mentioned that we were still in this spirit section of we're in health habits and we were looking at mind, body and spirit. So last week we were really focusing in on spirit. I said it would be kind of a two-part thing where I spoke about my feelings before traveling home for Thanksgiving, going home to my parents house for the first time since my mom's services. She passed away last April. So it was a roller coaster of emotions leading up to it and what I found was it was way less traumatizing than I thought it would, because I walked in.
Speaker 0:My dad has just done such a fantastic job of really keeping everything together, streamlining everything in the house, keeping what he needs, getting rid of what he doesn't, and he just has done such a great job that walking in there just felt like a breath of fresh air and it felt like a big hug from my mom, even though she was not there. Her spirit it is just so amazing and she was there for sure it was. I think it's helpful that everything is the way that she left it really, and she designed that house and she decorated that house and she put all of her loving kindness into that house and so walking in it almost feels like she is still there and I know in my heart of hearts that she just truly is in a better place. She was not doing well and everything was a struggle and as much as I would love to still have her here in physical form, I know that she was ready, her wings were ready and she is soaring up in heaven and just watching over all of us and I couldn't be more grateful for them. So I think this idea of having a really strong spiritual connection with my mom and then just having a really strong spiritual faith has been the most helpful thing in dealing with loss.
Speaker 0:So it was tough to go back, but we kept lots of the traditions. I proved to myself that I can plan, prepare and execute a wonderful thing scale, keeping up with all of the traditional stuff that she would make so delicious. It was fantastic. And then even setting the table, it was almost like she was there with me, like the napkins are here and the candlesticks are here and make sure you use the China and all of these things. That I almost felt like she was there with me. And the beautiful thing about it, too, was that my dad had actually gone to pick up my niece and nephew, my husband had gone golfing and my kids were really doing a great job of entertaining themselves, and so I was able to take that time really peacefully to get everything set up, to make some of the food, and it was almost like my mom was there guiding me all along.
Speaker 0:We did the Thanksgiving meal and then after the meal, we were able to go to the adoration chapel at the church that she had established many, many, many years ago, and after she passed away, unbeknownst to us, the church had put up a plaque with her name on it in the chapel. So we went in and said a few prayers and lit a candle and really felt her presence in that space that she created Such a legacy. People talk about this idea of like after people pass away and then you get rid of all of their things and then, once all the people who have known them have passed, then their stories are gone and all of the things like that, like this really kind of drama. Look at life. This is just a testament to my mom, because she will always and forever be on that plaque in that adoration chapel and she has really left a legacy which is, I think, something that everybody aspires to do but not everybody is able to do them. Amazing being able to feel her spirit in the house. Amazing to be able to keep her spirit alive in that Thanksgiving meal and then, even more amazing, to be able to go in a space where her name is on a plaque and she is just forever honored in that space. I just kind of wanted to share that because I felt like there were so many emotions before and there were so many emotions during being there as well, but it felt much better to finally release that fear of going back, be in that space, know it's okay and find ways of keeping her close to me, even though she is no longer here. And I found to them.
Speaker 0:I have been absolutely loving some of the poetry that's gone along with grief, and I think it's so important to be able to put words to feelings. So I wanted to end just sharing a couple of the quotes from some poetry and leave it there with this on this topic of spirit. So I love this woman. Her name is Liz Newman and she has some beautiful poetry really addressing grief, and one quote that I came across just today actually says that song came on today the one you loved and I sang along.
Speaker 0:Some days I can still sing along. I hope you're singing too and my mom and I had some favorite songs, one in particular, a Paul Simon song. You can call me Al and I'll tell you you better believe, if that song came on the radio and we weren't together, I would call her or she would call me. If we answered, we would be singing along. If the other person did not answer, we would be leaving that song as a voicemail for them. So that just makes me feel connected to her. So I played that song and felt really connected to her as well.
Speaker 0:Liz Newman also said you're with me today and no matter how I choose or do not choose to celebrate. Your love will always remain. Our love will always remain, even if holidays will never look the same. The love will always remain, and I felt that one really deeply as well, because just this idea of the holidays will never look the same, but I was able to use the love that was given to me when my mom was here and during those holidays and use that to keep her spirit alive.
Speaker 0:And then one final one from Liz Newman grief feels especially tender during the holidays and each of our hearts will need different things from us as we process and navigate the difficult terrain of loss. So I just wanted to leave those with you, in case loss is a piece of your holiday season. And then also just to say you know, stay in front of all of this and make sure you find that spiritual connection and that spirituality within yourself so that when you do come across a deep loss, you'll know what to do. I hope you're enjoying 52 weeks in 52 days, a compact version of the transformational road trip we took through 2023. We're revisiting those 52 episodes and it's a review of home health, happiness and the habits that guide the way to feeling fit mind, body and spirit. It's also a food for thought for how you want to feel.