The Satisfaction of Closure
This is an excerpt from the weekly News-Loveletter. If you would like it sent to your inbox directly (with all the other juicy bits, including a mini joy practice), you can add yourself to my mailing list here.
Tulips are some of my favorite flowers. They open like sunshine on my kitchen table, a sign that spring is surely upon us. This year, I want to hold their bright coral just a little longer, and I have an idea. Collecting the petals, I nest them in a basket I inherited from my mother. They reside in the center of my table, bringing me such joy.
The last practice shared in the Core Alignment with Joy series is the Satisfaction of Closure. Making time to reflect on and savor the sweetness of an event or relationship (with flowers too!) helps us see ourselves and the world in new ways. We make the most of our joy and the care we have invested, and this deep satisfaction can inspire our next steps so that they align with our dreams.
I got a note this morning from one of the Joy Collective, Licia Dallolio from Italy. She had missed the opportunity to share with her “home” class (students get around to visit other classes from time to time) at the end of the series. After watching the video of her class session, she wrote this for me to share with them. With Licia’s permission, I am sharing a part of her tender note here. I love that she marks the pauses to fully take in and experience her feelings, integrating them with the breath.
“I wish I’d joined last week’s class mainly for the practice: the sharing of closure! I think I understand better what neuroplasticy means because my brain, since following this course, has changed. DEEP BREATH!
My words and actions as a consequence have changed. DEEP BREATH AND HANDS ON MY HEART.
Everything and everyone I now meet and interact with are meeting the new me(s). Lucky them! Because now I love myself much more than I did a day, a week, a month, a year ago...DEEP BREATH.
I have a better understanding of myself and where some of my voracious anxieties are coming from, what triggers me, what soothes me ... What my needs are ... and I can now listen better to other people, to you, to the entire universe.
In this group I particularly appreciate the generosity and the warm-hearted feelings that are shared. I feel seen, I am authentic, and I am appreciated. My companions mirror my thoughts, feelings, emotions, ideas, worries, concerns...
These strong ladies with the "don t fool me," "no beating around the bush," "united we stand," "kick-ass with grace" attitudes, always make me feel part of this pride. I was a confused lion cub, and now I feel like one of them, ready to run, protect, hunt ... I love them all …”
Licia goes on to name what she most adores in each and every participant. I share this with you, dear reader, to give you a sense of this community, this transformation, and this joy. Licia’s noting the “strength” of participants, a pride of lionesses (all women in this class, but all gender in others), speaks to a quality of empowerment that is inherent in joy. At the core of our strength is vulnerability. In community, we rise together.
The Core Alignment with Joy is now available as a recorded series here. Those who have watched it already are experiencing themselves as participants in the classes they are watching. A new version of this class includes a bi-weekly Q&A session, with a cohort beginning in the first week of April. Hit reply for more information.
All series come with a monthly Q&A available to all the Joy Collective. Is it time to find your tribe and make 2024 memorable beyond your imaginings?