Dear Lois, How do you find a sense of renewal?

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Portrait by James Boyle.

Visualize a bubble over yourself. This bubble symbolizes a restorative space to reset; it brings you back into the moment and has the energy of centeredness and healing. It’s just for you, only accessible by you, and there for you whenever you need it.

When you start to feel comfortable in this space, you might use your breath to intentionally expand the space to be more inclusive, to grow your bubble. Maybe you want your bubble to include the room you are in to create a safe and sacred space.

Personally, I can’t seem to feel focused, or intentional about the inside of my bubble when my clothes are scattered around the room or there are things left undone. It’s harder for me to tap into restorative vibes when I am surrounded by stuff and tasks I have to do. I either breathe through the stress of the situation and keep that bubble tight and close or expand the bubble by clearing, cleaning and preparing the space to my comfort level. This brings a feeling of dignity into my surroundings that is followed by conscious decisions to keep things feeling this way.

Next, visualize the bubble to cover your home and the everyday motions within it. Like a protective shield, it holds love, thoughtfulness and healing. It covers all who enter and live in it. Yes, there will be messes and dramas that come and go, but this shouldn’t keep us from having homes that are supportive and life-giving. Maintaining and keeping our homes sustainable is part of creating a beautiful life.

Expand the bubble over your neighborhood, breathing life into your community through your own personal expression and what feels comfortable for you.

I like to volunteer on the radio show “The Everyday Feminist” through Germantown Community Radio (92.9 FM). Through this service, I can connect to a community where I feel held in a bigger vision. My bubble merges with other bubbles to contribute to a broader mission that includes more than my family and immediate surroundings.

When our communities are strong we feel better equipped to invest care into our cities; we feel more empowered to support a greater mission to see and experience human equality and environmental justice. And the bubble keeps expanding to include more and more people who together build safe, healthy, sustainable, beautiful places. The effects of our reach grow with each intentional, healing breath.

But, bubbles pop.

When one does, things don’t have to fall apart, although they might. How you have been operating in your sacred space has made you and your community stronger and more resilient to life’s blows.

Anyone or anything can pop a bubble, and bubbles popping is expected. When it happens, start again.

After a pop, we have the opportunity to come back to ourselves and our homes, to focus and center our energy. This “coming home to ourselves” energy perpetuates and accelerates the momentum of the expansion, and it takes less time to rebuild, forgive, mourn and tidy, ultimately pushing forward the energy of healing and love.

Once our lives become rooted in this reality, it is easier to see how beautiful life can be. We have to start by seeing the beauty in ourselves, our immediate spaces and the people around us. Then, again, push out.

Bubbles are usually made out of soap. When we clean things up, wash them down and scrub out what has contributed to dysfunction and dirt build-up, we make at least our little part of the world a better place. We all want that. Cleaning up our individual messes and having healthy relationships with the people in our lives can be revolutionary acts.

How great the impact will be when we work together, are inclusive to everyone, and have caring intentions as we cover our planet with the hope for a brighter future.

Lois Volta is a home life consultant, artist and founder of The Volta Way. Send questions to info@thevoltaway.com

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Latest from #160 September 2022