To be clear, this post is not about an accident on a trampoline, because upon reading the title that might be where the reader’s thoughts lead, although it is about trampolines, and grief. Time is not linear; conversations, photos and memory help. Today marks the 15th anniversary of my Dad’s death. I miss him. February…
Tag: family
House of Memories
Flanked by maples, oaks and pines My house of memories Stands poised in anecdotal reflection. Guests come, and gone, Who sat upon the faux red leather chairs Surrounding the square wood table. Laughter, tears, Heated conversations – Games of chance and fortune, Skill, and a dash of luck. Visitors remarking at the…
54 or 12? London, England, February 2018
Stepping off the Eurostar from Paris to London, my feet touch the pavement at St. Pancras International Station and I am home. I feel it in my bones. Ancestors breath pulsing through concrete flooring. My deceased Dad of 11 years whispering my name, “Sharon Anne, my wee ShaSha, we’ve more to discover.” It’s a paradox…
Mother/Daughter Adventures: Barcelona, Spain, May 2017
“Everyone agreed to this, and that was how the adventure began.” C.S. Lewis “Fancy a SoulStrolling journey with me?” I asked my eldest 25 year old daughter about 7 months ago. “Absolutely,” was her reply. Spain was her request: Barcelona, our first destination. I adore travel (not so much the jet-lag) the planning, packing, wandering, exploring,…
Citizenship and Voice
“Move, but don’t move the way fear makes you move.” Rumi Fear whispers, “Don’t write this post. Don’t pen your voice, your opinion. Stay silent. Who knows what harm may befall you.” Love whispers, “Write this post. Be you. Call upon: courage, bravery, goodness, kindness, light. Let us envelop you.” “Love is worth all the…
Stories from my childhood: Trampoline Wonder
Bounce, flip, soar, fly: repeat. Lightness of being, knowing my body in space, letting go, no fear – my parents bravery at gifting my brother and I the freedom to play. The story goes that my grandmother, Tilly, bid and won the trampoline (after a few too many gin and tonics) at an auction. Realizing…
Dwelling in Possibility
“I dwell in possibility.” Emily Dickinson #possibility is our prompt today at 31 Days of SoulStrolling. A few weeks ago, with Julie Gardner, Writers Gathering in Seattle, our prompt was Emily Dickinson’s poem, “I dwell in possibility.” This is what flowed from pen to paper: I dwell in possibility – to dwell, to be. To practice presence wherever…
Instructions for Threshold and Portal Crossings
Threshold: doorsill, any doorway or entrance, the starting point of an experience, event or venture. While I grasp the basic definition, the part that intrigues me most is the “starting point of an experience, event or venture.” Perhaps this is because I love mystery and it speaks to a deeper longing and wonder in my soul. John…
Thresholds and Portals – A Collection of Poems
This book of poems began in Vienna, Austria, April 2013. It was birthed from writing prompts, silence in cemeteries, paintings that spoke to me and pastries that called my name. More poems came to life during November 2014 as I participated in National Novel Writing Month – NAWRIMO. 50,000 words gushed forth onto my laptop…
Italy, Adventure and SoulStrolling™
Rosalba, Alessandro, Raymondo, Christina, Julia, Masilliammo, are just a few of the wonderful people I met during our family adventure in Italy. We soulstrolled our way from Florence to Positano, staying in airbnb villas in Mercatale Valdarno and Positano. We wandered by foot, traveled by train, drove through winding Tuscan hills and sunflower covered fields…
Beethoven, Seals and Water
Glistening speckled grey, brown and white heads popped up on the water’s calm surface. Black shining eyes gazed intently, long wet whiskers curiously twitching, as Beethoven’s fifth symphony floated across the water. It was the summer of 1973 and I was on my grandparents boat, The Framac, in Desolation Sound, British Columbia. The heat of…
Remembering: Feb. 23, 2007
8 years ago today, my Dad, Jim Heaney, left this physical world to journey beyond. I miss him. Two weeks before he died he spent a week looking after his three grandchildren, with my Mom, while my husband and I SoulStrolled in Paris. He loved them dearly and I wish he’d been able to have…
Sharon Richards 