Journal of Sacred Work

I fondly recall taking my grandchildren to the park when they were young. I especially remember Starling at age four having fun at the playground. On the way home she would excitedly tell me " Grandma I made new best friend today! Her exuberance and joy in playing with other children and the instant connection and bonds of friendship that formed warmed my heart. On subsequent visits  she might get another chance to play with the same children or discover new playmates and each one was a new best friend to her!

Fast forward to age 11, when Starling visited her CA family she now loves going to the dog park  and watching our dog Chance play with other dogs. Some of the regulars folks who go there have developed friendships and cluster together in their lawn chairs, chatting with eachother and throwing balls for their dogs to retrieve, returning again and again. Chase likes rousing and twirling his body in play with other dogs of all shapes and sizes. Starling takes off to explore and  jumps right in, going up to people she has never met, sitting down to introduce herself and to ask if it is okay to pet their pup. She often begins with, “Can I tell you something?”and enthusiastically shares in her love of dogs, while she pets them and inqires further and offers her observations.

After their family visit and return to S. Dakota a lot of people at the park inquired about Starling and spoke about how much they enjoyed her company and miss seeing her. I love Starling's high spirited energy and how our pets create a wonderful opportunity to talk with people we may not know and discover newfound connections that create friendhip and a sense of belonging.

In Erie's wonderful reflection this week, he highlights the varying levels of tiredness and exhaustion that can accompany caregiving and how the purpose of the JSW is to offer support, honor and express apprecition for caregivers.

There are also so many sacred moments of connection in caregiving that can spark joy and with this in mind I offer you this video produced by Soulpancakes. I hope you EnJOY it as much as I did and that it brightens your day!

Liz Sorensen Wessel
Photo of Starling at age four.