September 2025
Who am I and Where am I Going?
Listen to the audio version by Dorothy
For many years, I have thought of September as a new beginning. Classes and workshops commence again as students return to school and university, leaves on the trees become glorious colours prior to falling to the ground to nurture the earth for Spring's new growth. Would you agree with me, that Springtime is a season of Hope, where all is possible? Oftentimes, we do not do this alone, but with the care and kindness of supportive friends.
Although the above illustration was part of a series of overhead presentations that I used for workshops during a different career path, the questions remain pertinent. To meet the impending shredding truck coming to my area, I reviewed massive amounts of paperwork, filed just in case I needed it, though seldom referred to again; it was obvious that my habits required a drastic change in thinking! I'm happy that my reflective time resulted in a plan much more do-able than the busy life I had led for years. Time for yet another new beginning!
Perhaps you are also at a new beginning stage, as I am following the lapse since last February of all that was my routine, including Innisfree's newsletters, except for the brief update in May to explain that their absence was due to health reasons, and acknowledging losing my good friend, Rev. Carrie Hunter. I have not returned to my 100% self or the scurried days of previous years, but instead have been reflecting on an emerging and more balanced pattern. Have you had a similar experience?
Author Jon Kabat-Zinn, in writing the foreword for Jack Kornfield's book, Soul Food, suggests that we periodically question who we are and where we are going, including "what is my heart-path?" With that in mind, to pick up the threads of my life in a more balanced manner, I stepped off my mental treadmill, put everything in neutral and asked those challenging questions, including searching my heart more realistically for what really spoke to me, given life's unknown time-line.
If you are experiencing a life/heart-path transition and need to step off your treadmill for a time, perhaps join me in considering September as your new beginning. I share some comforting words that I recently discovered, although unable to identify their source:
You've survived the past - so you've passed - and nobody said you had to get an 'A'.
Oftentimes we are our harshest critics, more focused on what we could have done, should have done, if only we had done, or the anxiety of not getting an 'A'. No one else could have been you, so please honour your uniqueness, and the gift that you are with the following reminder in the sage words of Spanish essayist, José Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955):
You are a unique never to be repeated event in the history of the Universe.
May you too acknowledge with gratitude the stepping stones of progress that have made up your life, along with the kindness of friends who gave unstintingly of their care and support.
Until next time, when we meet again, from my heart to yours, I wish you a special September, and thank you for journeying with me.
Blessèd be ... Namasté
Dorothy B.
An Innisfree Moment 2026 | 2019-2025 Archive | Newsletter Sign-Up
Rev. Dorothy Blandford, Ph.D
Apt. 202 - 1655 Martin Drive
Surrey, BC, V4A 6E1, Canada
604-535-9016
info@innisfreespirit.com