HOMEcoming's Mini Radical Sabbatical: Decolonize, Dismantle, Dive Deep

On Noticing

Fire trucks, banana peels, dimes oh my!

These are some of the signs, messages and synchronicities I’ve encountered in my waking life recently, as I went about my day, slowly enough to notice. And, I just can’t bring myself to brush them off as mere coincidences. I mean really, where is the fun in that? Where is the magic and wonder? Where is the willingness to be open to there being more to life as a mere mortal than the grind?

How many emergency response vehicles without their sirens going have you noticed in a day? I noticed three.

How many banana peels have you noticed on your walk to/from dinner? I noticed three.

How many dimes and/or the number ten have you noticed in an afternoon? I noticed at least three.

How many times have you noticed things happening in threes? I did just now. Whooooa.

I’m not asking nor expecting you to have the same experiences.

I’m not asking that you know what it all means –although I thoroughly enjoy spending time sitting with signs and messages and noting what comes up for me and doing so with anyone else who is down for it –holla at me, fo reals!

I am asking –when was the last time you noticed a pattern, something unusual or out of place, boldly in your face, subtly yet clearly in your mind, in your ear? And when you noticed it, were you able to sit with it long enough to make any meaning of it or a connection, before life moved you onto the next thing with urgency yet no emergency?

Sometimes the thing that begs our attention isn't occurring outside of us out in the world, but actually, in our very own bodies. Those aches and pains you push through because you don’t have time. That pull in your gut that you try to shake off because you don’t know what it means or rather, you fear what it may mean. The way you’re breathing or not breathing and how it may be medically-related, anxiety-related, or grief’s home in your body.

This past weekend I had the honor of listening to a few writers share their work under the genre the Lyric Essay. In response to a question regarding how they connected to the particular writing style, one writer shared that she had no formal training or technical knowledge of it. She simply stated:

What rises insists on its form.

-Annaliese Jakimides

I invite you today, in this moment or the next moment you have to yourself, to slow down. Slow down enough to notice. What do you hear? What do you smell? What sensations arise and where? What do you know?

If this conversation resonates with you and you’re in the Louisville area and feel called to share in space and conversation, please join us at HOMEcoming’s Mini Radical Sabbatical: Decolonize, Dismantle, Dive Deep Summer Series on Sunday June 22nd, for some tending to Self in community.

I’m looking forward to facilitating thoughtful, strengths-based, spiritually embodied discussion and practices about these questions together. What you discover may have the potential to transmute what no longer serves you, which may in turn prepare you to decolonize, dismantle, and dive deep into our collective potential for healing and liberation. A tall order? Yes, if we are alone. But together we can make lighter this needed work.

My offering to you in our Radical Sabbatical:

· Co-created, sacred space with nourishing snacks and hot tea

· Engaging conversation about the systemic issues we all face together/individually

· Embodied practices you can take with you to ground your daily life

This is the first session of the summer series. Check the calendar and if this date doesn’t work for you, please do check other dates as well. And if you’d like to have a HOMEcoming Radical Sabbatical experience for your private group or team, I am accepting bookings through 2025.

Mad love and care,

Arlene