Looking Ahead (I'm back from maternity leave!)

Hello!

So much has happened since I last wrote to you. I don’t need to tell you that because I know how deeply you feel it in your body, in your day to day life. Life as we know it as been turned upside down and it’s going to take us a long time to figure out how to move forward. Until then, we are living in the moment, in the uncertainty.

I don’t know about you, but this has been incredibly difficult for me.

I am returning to my practice after maternity leave. The first half of my leave, I was struggling with new motherhood but supported by my closest family and friends. The second half of my leave, we were quarantined at home with a newborn with no physical support. My partner works an essential job so every day when he arrives home from work, he starts a 30-minute process of decontaminating himself so he can be with me and our baby Nico.

And the reality is that I know we have it much easier than many people.

The way I see it, we are in this for the long game. We are here to take care of each other, to protect each other, to love one another, to recognize the raging inequities that can no longer be avoided or hidden, to fully come to terms with the ways that we have become disconnected and isolated (long before shelter in place orders), and to HEAL. We must claim our work, step into it with dedication and patience, and do what we were put here to do.

How do you show someone you love them? How do you practice loving yourself, enough to do your best in relationships and enough to leave them when necessary? How do you show your commitment to the people you care about the most? How do you honor your most genuine self? How do you contribute mindfully and wisely to your community?

These are the questions I want us to continue to explore together. This is our work to do. Now more than ever, we understand that relationships and connection are what make up a life well lived. What are you willing to do to continue to grow in this way?

I’m really looking forward to this next chapter with you. I can already feel us unearthing a deeper sense of meaning and purpose in our world and I’m ready to explore it with you.

Thank you for welcoming me back with such warmth and compassion. I’m so happy to be here with you.

Big hugs,

Elizabeth