The Hero’s Journey

Newly separated, I looked down at these beautiful smiling faces looking up at me and carried on as I would have ~ married or not. A dash of food, sprinkle of sleep, cup of love, equal parts sun, salt and hugs. Wash, rinse, repeat, day after day. I remember being scared and I remember sorrow. But I also remember  “unquestioning”- the knowing that if I stuck with what I knew, if I led from my heart, all would be well.

My son recently had braces put on. I anticipated an hour of sitting in the office making to-do lists, studying and catching up on emails. But as I looked at my little boy lying in the chair with his mouth stretched awkwardly and his hand upon his heart, my perspective of the hour changed. I pulled my chair closer to him and gently picked up his other hand. A tear slid out of the corner of his eye. That was my work that hour; my work was to sit and be fully present with my child. 

Had I chosen any other path in my early days of single motherhood, I would have crumpled. In the words of Elizabeth Lesser, “May you listen to the voice within the beat even when you are tired. When you feel yourself breaking down, may you break open instead. May every experience in life be a door that opens your heart, expands your understanding, and leads you to freedom. May you follow that voice, for This is the way—the hero’s journey, the life worth living, the reason we are here.”

In love and light always,

Jenny