Energy

Amy Oledzki on July 2, 2024

I spent a bit of mindful energy this morning looking around at the beauty of the gardens here at the Iris Respite House & Healing Gardens. Some rain storms have left us with fuel for growth; the flowers everywhere are bursting with fullness and color. It is as if the flowers got a shot of caffeine overnight; there is a liveliness, a get up and go, an energy.

Energy is an interesting word. We can have all sorts of it and moments of none, so it seems. The word itself projects an oomph to it and when you pay attention to its use, it is everywhere. Statements abound: youthful energy, stagnant energy, quantitative energy, comparative energy, and departments of energy, to name a few. I hear people say, “I have no energy,” “I need an energy drink,” “I have positive energy,” or “He/She has negative energy.” Famous people and scholars tell us that energy of the mind is the essence of life, there is energy in motion, energy flows where attention goes, and energy is contagious: either you affect people or you infect people.

Warren Buffett was quoted saying that “Without passion, you don’t have energy. Without energy, you have nothing.” I suppose that is true, because it takes passion on some days to get out of bed, to brush your teeth, and to eat breakfast. Does passion need to exist to move forward with activities of daily living? I don’t think so – some of those are habitual things we do. However, if we have lost passion in life or are burned out, I know firsthand, it is hard to keep moving forward.

So many questions surface. Most of us have to engage in some type of caffeinated drink to fuel ourselves in the morning. But what about those that exert too much energy all the time? Can it deplete the desire to stay motivated? Can passion move quickly away and cause someone to become stagnant. Can pain and suffering discourage a person to the point of NO energy?

If you look at the opposite meaning of the word, that meaning depends on how you are using it. The English language is complicated, and if you are referring to the energy as a generated power, simplified, the opposite is a lack of. From a person’s spirit and vigor, the opposite could be apathy, depression, and/or spiritual distress. I think of caregivers when I think of the person’s spirit in relation to energy. Caregivers put forth so much energy all of the time in providing care to their loved one, but yet, they keep moving, they keep pushing through, sometimes to the point of complete burnout.

So, what is the antidote? Just like a power grid, a car, or the flowers in the garden, restoration is needed. Dealing with life overload and the stress of long work hours without breaks can indeed lead to burnout and a decline in spiritual, mental, and physical health. Finding ways to manage stress and maintain sanity is crucial. Energy, caregiving, and healing are interconnected concepts that revolve around the well-being of individuals. In the context of well-being, energy can refer to both physical vitality and the more abstract notion of life force or spiritual energy.

The notion of Spiritual Energy is what I think Warren Buffett is referring to in his quote above. Passion, purpose, and meaning are often described as what is needed to have spiritual energy. It is the “chi,” “prana,” or “life force” that keeps the flow of energy through and around the body, impacting overall wellness.

If your life force energy is depleted, or you are just exhausted and need to restore, several strategies can help you escape from the relentless cycle and regain balance. Healing encompasses the processes through which a person recovers from illness, injury, or emotional distress. It can be approached from various angles:

Medical Healing: Involves conventional medical treatments and therapies to address physical health issues.

Emotional Healing: Focuses on recovering from emotional trauma, stress, and mental health challenges.

Spiritual Healing: Utilizes practices such as meditation, prayer, energy work (like Reiki), and other holistic methods to restore a sense of balance and well-being.

Because energy, caregiving, and healing are interconnected concepts, implementing a balanced approach is important. Regularly evaluate your work-life balance and adjust your strategies as needed to maintain your well-being. Remember, it’s crucial to prioritize self-care and seek help when needed to sustain long-term health and happiness. Join us through our Simple Suggestions and sign up for our Think Caregiver emails today! Email intake@hopegrows.org to get on the list.

Written by Lisa Story, MSCP, LPC, CT
Hope Grows Founder & Clinical Director

How To Protect Your Peace: Setting Boundaries & Knowing Yourself

Amy Oledzki on June 4, 2024

In thinking about this month’s focus, “Protecting Your Peace,” I began MY life. What does it mean to “protect your peace?” Protecting your peace often starts by identifying what’s weighing on your soul. In my story, I found out I was expecting early in my new marriage. Although young and scared, we made our child and her well-being our priority, setting boundaries that supported a calm and nurturing home. 

In caring for her needs, I was also protecting our peace and modeling what a balanced life could look like. However, I know that’s not always how the journey begins. Whether you’ve been practicing for years or are just starting to pay attention to your own well-being, Hope Grows’ counseling services and resources can offer guidance along the way. To start, here are the basics of protecting your peace.

The Meaning Of Protecting Your Peace

Protecting your peace means identifying and addressing what makes you feel uneasy and making choices that honor your emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being. At the heart of this practice is self-awareness. When you know what drains you, what restores you, and where your limits lie, you begin to live with more intention. The key is learning to recognize your limits without guilt and giving yourself permission to step back when your soul needs space.

Unfortunately, it can be hard to gain those skills alone. Virtual mental health counseling can offer support, insight, and a safe space to grow your awareness and confidence, right from where you are

In the sections that follow, we’ll explore how to identify your personal peace-disruptors, set boundaries with compassion, and develop habits that help you return to yourself whenever you’ve been disconnected for too long.

How To Protect Your Peace Online

Watching my children now raise their own families, I’m struck by how technology and media seem to reach into every part of our lives, shaping values, overwhelming attention, and quietly disturbing our peace of mind.

The internet may be loud and fast, but we still get to choose how we move through it. We can lead with values, model thoughtful engagement, and set boundaries that protect both our own well-being and the emotional safety of those around us. Here’s where to begin:

  • Open Communication: Make space for ongoing conversations about how online content impacts emotions, thoughts, and values. This can be a conversation with a loved one, professional, or even a journal practice — whatever gets the conversation started and ongoing.
  • Model Thoughtful Engagement: Use technology in a way that reflects your values. Take intentional breaks, avoid doom-scrolling, and engage with content that uplifts or informs.
  • Create Digital Boundaries: Designate tech-free times or spaces in your home. Protect the quiet parts of your day from digital noise.
  • Supervise With Curiosity, Not Control: For kids and teens, stay involved in their digital life with a spirit of curiosity. Guide rather than monitor.
  • Practice Content Discernment: Ask yourself: Does this content feed my peace or drain it? Choose sources and voices that align with your well-being.
  • Support Digital Education: Encourage schools and community spaces to prioritize digital literacy, emotional intelligence, and respectful online interaction.

How To Protect Your Peace At Work

Peace at work is often disturbed in quiet, persistent ways, including through constant interruptions, unmet expectations, or the subtle pressure to do more than you’re able. As so many of us spend the bulk of our waking hours in these environments, how we move through our workday matters. Protecting your peace at work isn’t about control; it’s about intention.

  • Know Your Limits: Sometimes, perfectionists, people-pleasers, and highly ambitious people take on more work than they can handle in a healthy way. Before you sign up for extra work or take on another project, take a moment to ask, “Can I really handle this?” Honor your response.
  • Protect the Edges of Your Day: Begin and end your workday with something that belongs to you, reading, movement, stillness, or anything else that you love. This helps to ensure that work doesn’t spill into every corner of your life.
  • Tend to Micro-Moments: A deep breath between emails or a pause before a meeting may seem small, but over time, these moments recalibrate your energy and mindset.
  • Don’t Confuse Urgency With Importance: Just because something demands your attention doesn’t mean it deserves your peace. Pause before reacting.
  • Let Silence Do the Heavy Lifting: Not everything needs a response. Sometimes your calm presence is more powerful than words.

How to Protect Your Peace at Home

Home should be a place of rest, safety, and alignment with your values. It’s where we not only recover from the world but also shape how we move through it. As I studied psychology, I was especially drawn to Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, which teaches that true moral reasoning stems not from fear or reward, but from an internal sense of justice and compassion.

This kind of ethical clarity begins at home. When our living spaces support our values, they nurture our peace and growth. We can protect our peace at home through practicing presence, boundary-setting, and care. Here are some ways you can put the practice of protecting your peace at home into action:

  • Create Rhythms, Not Just Routines: Instead of strict schedules, lean into steady rhythms that honor your energy. Light a candle at the same time each evening, take a walk after dinner, or pause for five minutes of stillness before bed. Let peace be part of your daily flow.
  • Clear Clutter With Care: A cluttered space can lead to a cluttered mind. You don’t need to go minimalist, just tend to your surroundings with attention and intention. A tidy space can open up room to breathe.
  • Protect Quiet Time: Whether you live alone or with a full house, carve out small moments of quiet just for you. Even ten minutes behind a closed door can help you return to yourself.
  • Speak Gently: The words we use at home shape the energy in our space. Try softening your tone and offering grace in moments of frustration, including with yourself.
  • Make Space for Joy: Don’t just manage your household, make space to enjoy it. Add beauty where you can. Say yes to a slow breakfast. Laugh more. Joy is a form of protection, too.

How To Protect Your Peace With Others 

Relationships are a core part of life, but they can also be where our peace is most easily lost. Even with the people we love, not being understood and experiencing emotional overextension can leave us feeling unmoored. Protecting your peace helps you choose how you show up and what you’re willing to hold.

  • Choose Connection Over Control: You can’t change how others think or act, but you can choose how you respond. Focus on staying grounded in your own values rather than trying to manage someone else’s behavior.
  • Respond, Don’t Absorb: Other people’s emotions are theirs to carry. You can listen with compassion without taking on what isn’t yours. It’s okay to care deeply without carrying everything.
  • Know When to Step Back: Not every conflict needs to be resolved right away. Sometimes peace looks like pausing, taking space, and returning to the conversation when clarity, not defensiveness, is leading.
  • Speak What’s True and Kind: Honest communication protects your peace more than silence ever will. Express what you need with clarity, but do so from a place of care.
  • Let Love Be Spacious: Real love isn’t clingy or urgent. It has room for breathing, boundaries, and differences. Relationships don’t have to be perfect to be deeply meaningful; they just need mutual respect and space to grow.

How To Protect Your Inner Peace

Sometimes, the greatest threat to our peace isn’t the outside world — it’s the quiet pressure we place on ourselves. The inner critic, the unrealistic expectations, the guilt for resting, or the tendency to keep going even when our bodies ask us to slow down. Protecting your peace with yourself is about learning to become a softer, more faithful companion to your own heart. Here are some practices to implement to help protect your inner peace with yourself:

  • Make Rest a Non-Negotiable: You don’t have to earn rest. Build it into your life the way you would a meeting or a task. Let stillness be something you’re allowed, not something you have to justify.
  • Be Honest About What You Need: Don’t wait until you’re breaking down to check in with yourself. Ask often: “What are my emotional, physical, and spiritual needs today?”
  • Relax: You’re not here to be efficient. You’re here to be whole. Let go of the pressure to always be doing, and allow yourself time to simply be.
  • Honor Your Inner Voice: Intuition is a kind of wisdom. When something feels off, listen. When something feels right, trust it. Your inner knowing is part of your peace.
  • Forgive Yourself Often: You’re going to get it wrong sometimes. Be tender in those moments. You deserve grace.

Protecting Your Mental Health: Hope Grows Has a Helping Hand

Peace of mind doesn’t happen by accident. It’s cultivated through intentional habits, such as prioritizing rest, setting boundaries, connecting with nature, and engaging in things that restore rather than drain.

So take a breath. Turn off the noise. Step outside. Protecting your peace creates a ripple effect for your heart, soul, family, community, and the next generation.

At Hope Grows, we take a comprehensive approach to mental health counseling and offer virtual support to meet you where you are. Whether it’s through quiet reflection, time in nature, or a compassionate conversation, we’re here to help you hold onto your peace, even when life feels unsteady. Reach out when you’re ready. Your well-being matters.

Finding Meaning in Life

Amy Oledzki on May 3, 2024

I am an early riser. Most mornings, I awake before the sun and I sit and sip my coffee or tea and listen to the sounds of nature. Right now, the morning is filled with bird song and the exchange of different melodies. I learned that 90% of wildlife, including some of the Audubon population, mate for life; however, the majority of songbirds’ only mate for a season.

With this month’s focus, I ponder the meaning of life. It appears that the wildlife’s search for meaning only includes food, water, shelter, and safety; the daily efforts of survival. At least it looks that way from my window (except when you catch a baby fox that wondered into the trap destined for the destructive groundhog; a game of catch and release).

I digress for a moment and then joyful singing becomes the focus again. I always thought joyful music came from the birds until one day, when I heard different sounds – in particular, a robin. I was surprised at the change in the melody and then noticed a disruption of the nest and the loss of their eggs and young. Researching the possibilities of grief among wildlife, I learned that birds have legitimate cries of sadness.

Human loss and the sounds of sadness are profound as well. Grief, the normal and natural reaction to loss – any loss – is different for everyone. While mourning is the process that one goes through in adapting to the loss, bereavement is the period that defines the loss to which the person is trying to adapt.

Grief is experienced emotionally, cognitively, physically, spiritually, socially, economically, and behaviorally. While these experiences are not inclusive, it can affect every part of us. The deepest of these is spiritual. At least, that has been my experience, along with most of those I have provided support for. The loss of purpose and meaning in life can rock us to the very core of our existence.

At Hope Grows, we talk a lot about loss, and not just loss from death. Loss is painful. The first night of the graduate grief class I teach involves naming and listing everything that represents a loss. As students engage, the loss of a job, a relationship, a car, a passing grade, the ability to walk, and freedom, to name a few, begin to fill the chalkboard. Soon, an exchange regarding the loss from the death of someone is shared. Discussion evolves to the ability to pivot in difficult situations.

Last month, we shared an article about pivoting and if we focus on what matters most and align our actions with our values, a more meaningful and fulfilling life is the result. Does this really apply though, when struggling through loss? And then, what happens when someone loses their way? Finding and having meaning in life is imperative to good overall well-being, so we are told. It is also at the core of spiritual health.

I, for one, believe that society is in a period of mourning, one of chronic pain that sees no end. The news portrays a society that appears to be challenged from a loss of self, purpose, and identity; spirituality seems to be missing. As mental health needs rise, the cries of sadness seem to go unheard. Mental health needs are at record highs. Young teenagers are flocking to the ER hospitals for depression and anxiety, people are afraid for their safety, the older population struggle with moving from the home they loved, family caregivers are stressed with increased demands, and thirty somethings are struggling to find their way in the job market.

The chronic pain goes on and on, but then, just like in nature, the sounds of sadness can change. How do we help society change the sound of its cries? When one’s soul goes off-center, the antidote is compassion and kindness. Human spiritually evokes existential questions about suffering and meaning, and any validation can help nourish a tired and weary soul, providing a sense of comfort and connection.

I have been in chronic pain (loss) most of my life, physically and spiritually. I have a degenerative spine, arthritis and stenosis, Chronic Fatigue, Lyme’s disease, and several other chronic viruses that go in and out of remission. I’m not sure how long I have had these viruses, since most of adult life doctors always pushed the symptoms aside by calling them “acute” and that it was “all in my head.” It wasn’t until I found a wonderful Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine who became the compassionate and kind soul, validating my symptoms and applying the correct testing to locate the problems.

My apologies, I digress again, but my point is that I had empathy, understanding, and encouragement of practical support. I was then able to explore the deepness of the pain and implement self-care practices that worked. Keep in mind, whatever the loss, it requires a holistic approach that addresses the symptoms, the emotions, and the spiritual needs.

One way to support someone in pain, whether it be individual loss or the societal loss that I was referring, is community. We need to come together and spread kindness. Just like the child blowing the seeds of the spent dandelion into the wind, new growth can happen.

Other ways to help someone in chronic pain, whether it is physical, emotional, or spiritual:

  • Empathy and understanding
  • Encouraging self-care practices
  • Providing practical support
  • Encouraging connection and support
  • Promoting spiritual exploration.

Check out our simple suggestions in this week’s “Think Caregiver” email for further tips on this topic.

In summary, helping someone with chronic pain involves addressing their physical symptoms, emotional well-being, and spiritual needs with empathy, compassion, and practical support. By attending to the person’s holistic needs, you can contribute to their healing journey and support their overall well-being, including – and most importantly – the health of their soul. Keep in mind, a dose of nature can be helpful too!

Written by Lisa Story, MSCP, LPC, CT
Hope Grows Founder & Clinical Director

The Ability to Pivot

Amy Oledzki on April 3, 2024

The ability to pivot in tough situations is a hallmark of resilience and is worth focusing on this month as winter changes to spring. Blossoms are plenty this time of year as the trees, bushes, spring bulbs, and perennials begin to erupt with beauty. However, as the weather doesn’t know how to make up its mind from cold to warm, and then cold again, the ability to pivot becomes the nature of the game (no pun intended).

For me, pivoting from winter to spring is always difficult. While I love the new blossoms, I thrive in the winter with “internal regrouping,” as I call it. The snow and cold of winter contribute to my deep, inward thinking and reflection. However, with the past couple of winters not being very cold and snowy, I feel like I have not had the break my soul needs.

None the less, as I reflect about this topic of pivoting, my birth order comes to mind. Being the youngest of six children, I believe I had an inner strength that was different than those around me. Was it my place in birth order, being one of 46 first cousins or having nieces that were closer in age to me than their parents, who were my siblings? Or did it have something to do with the fact that I was being raised by the village, not just my parents? Not sure of the reason, but my ability to pivot I believe is deeply connected to my inner spirit. The ability to draw upon my inner strength creates a resiliency that helps to adjust my mindset to manage effectively and put in place coping skills. 

Throughout evolution, organisms have developed various adaptation mechanisms to survive in changing environments. These mechanisms include physiological, behavioral, and psychological traits that allow organisms to adjust to new conditions. Humans, as a part of these organisms, inherit this adaptability, which contributes to their ability to pivot in tough situations.

The ability to pivot refers to the capacity to bounce back from adversity, challenges, or difficult circumstances, and what a better essential oil choice this month than the arborvitae. The majestic and strengthening properties of this tree are not only grounding, the tree often lives for over 800 years – Arborvitae means “Tree of Life”. The emotional properties of this essential oil mean Divine Grace. Engaging with this oil can help with relaxation, breathing deeply and trusting in the flow of life. Perhaps I should use this oil as I transition during this time of year.  

All and all though, it takes resilience to be able to pivot. While the arborvitae is resilient, humans have to implement strategies. One strategy is to remember and recognize the times where you have successfully pivoted in tough situations. When we remember success, we can then continue to promote resilience as a valuable skill that can be cultivated and strengthened over time.

Staying strong, holistically, is important too. I will admit though, the older I get, the harder it is to stay strong. Some days it feels like it takes twice the effort to do certain things and my resilience and ability to pivot is affected. I reflect at what is going on in my life; an overloaded schedule, not cultivating the earth, and not taking enough time to “stop and smell the roses.”

Whatever the reason, cultivating resilience, adopting a positive mindset, embracing adaptability, nurturing emotional well-being, and finding meaning and purpose can all contribute positively. Out of all the suggestions, I believe that finding meaning and purpose is at the top of the list for being able to continue to pivot. A purpose has to be in place so that you want to get out of bed in the morning, and a strong spirit can help with that.

Apr Bleeding Heart

I would be careless if I didn’t comment on the plant choice for the month: the bleeding heart. This resilient early spring-rising plant is full of resilience and strength. Its symbolism can help when we are being too sensitive or we emotionally react to the world around us. Its unique beauty can help draw upon our values and beliefs to navigate the challenges one may be facing.

All and all, focus on what matters most and align your actions with your values. You can then pivot towards a more meaningful and fulfilling life, even in the presence of adversity. A good take away is that nature can serve as a source of inspiration, wisdom, and resilience. I have often said, “nature doesn’t ask of anything from me, it is one place that I am able to let go of control.” And when you let go of control, nature will guide you to observe and learn, and to develop the adaptive skills necessary to navigate challenges and thrive in an ever-changing environment.

Written by Lisa Story, MSCP, LPC, CT
Hope Grows Founder & Clinical Director

Gifts of the Spring Equinox

Amy Oledzki on March 20, 2024

Ever had to begin again? Start anew? It’s a lot of hard work, isn’t it? Leaving the past behind. But it’s a time effervescent with possibility. A newness to be wholly trusted.

For thousands of years, the spring equinox has come bearing gifts of renewal, rebirth, and reawakening to us and the emerging landscape. The word “equinox” actually means “equal night” in Latin. It’s one of only two days out of the whole year when the earth’s 23.5 degree axis is not tilting toward or away from the sun. The sun shines completely perpendicular to the equator, at a right angle. Dark and light are available for roughly the same amount of time, existing in a state of total balance, and the seasons shift. Light takes the lead.

The renewal of life is one of mother nature’s greatest teachers. Want to know how I found that out? Years ago, I found myself trying to put myself back together after a mental and physical trauma. I was lucky enough both to be recuperating over the spring months and to live in an area where I had access to a park. Before then, spring had just been a season, like all the rest. But that spring, I woke up. It felt like I was seeing the earth for the first time. That spring, I had to stop and examine every flower, tree, shoot, and bush. It felt like mother nature was leading me by the hand from one to another, revealing herself to me all at once, and the earth came alive. From my disabled state, I experienced something I never had before: the underlying magic of spring. I was changed, more connected to nature than ever before. It forged an unforgettable reverence and hope in my soul, leaving me with a deep appreciation for the gift life’s renewals really are, both inside and out.

Throughout history, the spring equinox has been heralded and celebrated worldwide. The Persian
calendar, still used by Iran and Afghanistan today, celebrates the “equinoctial new year,” marked by a 13-day festival, as the first day of the year. In India, the famous Holi festival, signifying the triumph of good over evil, where revelers cover one another with brightly colored powdered paint, is celebrated at the spring equinox. And Easter and Passover, two of the most widely celebrated spring religious holidays, are both determined by the timing of the spring equinox.

You bet it’s a time to celebrate! We don’t have to bow to the powers of winter anymore! Watching the
earth reclaim herself every year never gets old. She shifts us from turning inward, hunkering down in
place, “wintering,” to coming outside into a universe teaming with life, working the land, gathering and growing together. The snow melts and the ground softens, leading us, once again, to abide in a reciprocal relationship with the earth. What we sow, we reap.

Around Hope Grows, we make room for the new by starting seeds, pulling weeds, raking leaves, removing dead stalks, and integrating fresh compost into the soil. Come Memorial Day, we want to be ready to PLANT.

As spring draws us outside in the next few months, it’s a great time to create space for the gifts of
the equinox in our own spiritual landscape. What will you leave behind under the covers of winter?
What newness will you cultivate? What seeds are you going to sow, inside and out? It’s a great time to clean out anything that is no longer serving your highest good, and an even better time to choose something you’ve always wanted to do and start. Setting intentions during this time can be very powerful.

When the sun’s new light of spring dawns, what new thing is it going to nourish? Think of a seed
germinating, cracking its shell, breaking open, and let light take the lead.

Written by Jessica Giannotta, Hope Grows Horticulturist

Notes from the Garden: The Tree of Life

Amy Oledzki on December 19, 2023

December Plant of the Month: Tree of Life

doTERRA Essential Oil of the Month: Clary Sage

If we surrendered to the earth’s intelligence, we could rise up rooted, like trees. – Rainer Maria Rilke

The Tree of Life has been a sacred symbol, revered across cultures and religions, for thousands of years. Almost every major civilization and faith over the ages has had some level of sacred regard for the trees. 

While researching this blog, I found Tree of Life symbolism throughout Egyptian, Celtic, Mayan, Native American, Buddhist, Hindu, African, Greek and Roman mythology, and folklore. In the Bible, the Tree of Life is planted centrally in the Garden of Eden, near the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. In fact, the Hebrew phrase etz hachayim, meaning “Tree of Life,” has been used to refer directly to the Torah, Jewish sacred scripture. Proverbs 3:18 likens it to wisdom, saying one can derive happiness from holding onto her. 

The Tree of Life symbolizes healing, power, strength, and the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Her roots extend downward, spreading their tendrils beneath the ground, and her branches reach up, interwoven, into the heavens. She occupies two worlds, symbolizing the harmonious connection between the divine and earthly realms. She is often encased in a surrounding circle, symbolizing the oneness and unity of all life. 

One of my personal favorite renderings is the Celtic Tree of Life. The Celts considered trees to be sacred repositories of memory, folklore, and the presence of spirit beings. Their Tree of Life symbol has its roots and branches intertwining and knotted together infinitely, with no beginning or end, symbolizing all of us inextricably connected within the Tree of Life’s protective stature. 

Wisdom is in the trees. Acting as both givers and sustainers of life, trees provide us with gifts of nurturance. From cradle to grave, we rely on them for our very breath, shelter, shade, medicine, music, healing, fire, and food. Whenever I have faced periods of struggle, or illness, I find solace among the trees. During a particularly difficult time years ago, it was the trees who taught me how powerful and restorative it can be to connect with nature. Walking among them day after day, their magnificent and healing spirits tended to me, making me feel safe, restoring my spirit, lifting me up to higher ground. It was within their loving embrace that I first felt the invisible connective tissue of the web of life all around me, cradling and connecting me to an intelligence far greater than mine. I was no longer a party of one; they connected me back to the infinite whole. They are my trees of life. I didn’t leave Pittsburgh much during that time, but looking back, I can see now I was on one of the most definitive journeys of my life. 

Journeys of adversity, healing, and wholeness ripen us, and often shake us to our core. They strip away what isn’t real and leave us clinging to what is. They make us human, and the most profound ones will reveal our humbling connection to all that is. I have been a care recipient, and I have a feeling I will be a caregiver before my life is over. What the trees have taught me is that even though these two souls walk hand in hand, experiencing two very different journeys, both are being held in the sacred boughs of a larger whole, to which they will forever belong. 

Written by Jessica Giannotta, Hope Grows Horticulturist

Tree of Life drawing by Emma Stair