Life in 2021 - A year ending summary

 

Every time I am in session with a client for Reiki or for Tarot, the same questions circulate...why are we here?  Does it get better?  How can I be sure I am doing the right things?

The truth is, we don't know...we can only trust and have faith in what we believe.  That is all there is.

Lilac

Summary of the year 2021

12/18/2021

Although the summer is really the time of year when I shine best (Leo Sun and Venus in Leo), I do so love the end of the year and the hope of a new year to come!  I am now in my 47th cycle of inviting in a new year and reflecting on the last one.  How can I tell if I was a success?  Let's review as only we can- it is a personal journey.  Here are my reflections.

Every year, I start out with a cat on my head.  I have four cats and up until Thanksgiving this year we also only had one dog- an Australian Shepherd named Cloud.  Cloud is about to turn 14!  That is quite old for his breed and we know he does not have much time left with us.  When my husband's cousin Sarah Cooksey passed suddenly and tragically in a motorcycle accident, we were able to adopt her 7 year old Australian Shepherd, Wally.  Cloud and Wally look almost identical in color.  This is no accident.  There are no accidents!  My husband has now had FOUR identical dogs...black and white Aussies.  It is just meant to be.  Wally has a lot of energy compared to our old dog.  There have been a lot of challenges integrating him but he is a loveable creature, and we are so glad to have him.

CLOUD 2020

2021 also marked 5 yers of marriage for me and Jamie Carroll.  Jamie and I first met back in 2006 when I was a AAA Dispatcher, re-entering the workplace from running my own home daycare for about 5 years while Ani was a baby.  Jamie and I bonded over our mutual losses- his mother who died in a tragic plane crash and my baby brother who was killed in Iraq during war.  A deep friendship was created, and eventually as years passes, we were brought back together and then married in 2016.  Marriage can bring many things...but none are what you expected.  For us, a house, home and family have been the biggest and the most significant evolutions.  We bought our house in 2019 just prior to the Covid 19 Pandemic which shut down schools, businesses and normalcy for all of 2020 and into 2021.  Home is where the heart is.

Important relationships that surfaced over the course  of years have certainly affected the trajectory of our lives...Here, Aunt Jean Callaway is posing for a picture at Annika's graduation with me.  Aunt Jean and I share a special bond...one which led to the deeper connection we had with her daughter Sarah Cooksey and her grandaughter, Evangel.  The Carroll family have definitely taken me in as one of their own.  I am thankful, as "family" (aside from my own children) have always been in short supply in my life.

Evolution of family might have been the theme of 2021 for me...learning to identify who is real to me and who is not.  That may sound kind of "out there" to some people...but I needed to learn to identify those who could do harm to my family and my sense of self and those who would not.  Also, those who belonged in the inner circle and those who do not.  This is an ever-changing concept for all of us by the way! NOTHING...LASTS...FOREVER.  Nothing.

Then there was Evangel...a youngster who would find a way to weasel strongly into our hearts and make a permanent place there.  Loved by so many, us amongst the admirers.  Our love for Sarah and Evangel turned the tides of our lives (my husband and the kids and mine) when Evangel's beautiful Mama, Sarah was taken from us suddenly on October 3rd 2021. Our family has made a space for her here with us Yankees for the day she will come to be here with us.  She is a beautiful soul.

My own personal growth and personal development have been the highlight from 2021 and will go on through-out the coming year and possibly far beyond. With the support and partnership of my best friend Erica and my husband Jamie, I created a new foundation for my personal journey as a Reiki Master and Tarot Reader.  The Lilac Broom was the name that emerged from paper to become a real living breathing entity this year.  I received my Reiki I, Reiki II and Reiki III certifications from my Master Teacher, Reverend Kath Medeiros.  I also received the Rites of Monay Kia and the Rites of the Womb from Kathy.  She is a trusted advisor and my Spiritual coach and friend.  Anyone seeking Yoga, Card-reading, Reiki or other Spiritual services in the Fall River MA area, I will highly recommend her.  I have found a sisterhood among her clan...a Coven of sorts.  And this coming year, I will expand that work Westward to Johnston RI at my own working Studio, The Lilac Broom.

I Dedicate this blog, this coming year and these new adventures, to the memory of a beautiful woman, a hero to me, and a dear friend, lost much too soon.  I am grieving for all of the times we were going to have...all the time we believed we still had yet to enjoy with one another.  I miss your voice and wise and courageous way of assuring me that everything would turn out alright. 

 

I miss you so much Sarah.  Thank you foe being a part of my life.

Tallahassee Fire Lt Sarah Cooksey, RIP

Namaste,

Lilac