A Healing Circle

My sister Jen invited me to a healing circle that was being held at her office after hours. It was going to be for Carissa, to send her all the best vibes we could to help her get though this stage in her life and take her to the other side (so to speak) where she will emerge a stronger person.


It was wonderful, surreal and very emotional as I joined with women who (for the most part) have not met Carissa. They all know her through her blog, though.

I had no idea what was going to happen and was nervous about joining them but they were all so warmly welcoming and friendly, I couldn't help but love them all - especially after the circle ceremony. The staff room was darkened, a white scarf lay on the floor, a large eagle feather at one end and a single candle in a little holder that highlighted the symbol I had brought that belonged to Carissa. I had given Jen a pair of her shoes - she is a "shoe freak" (as I am, or was) so the ones I gave her are hot pink, sexy, strappy and ridiculously high heeled. I found myself staring at the shoes, waiting for them to say something - waiting for them to speak!

Needless to say, it was very emotional. Everyone brought at least one image to make a collage for her. She will receive it on Sunday, the day before her operation. The images were of anything that would depict health! The pictures and words meant something to the ones who brought them. The images were very diverse - mostly pictures and words cut out from magazines. It crossed my mind how appropriate these items were. Carissa loves magazines (especially fashion-type mags) so the pictures were ones she could relate to, her shoes were definitely a true symbol, and the eagle feather blew me away because all I could think of was the fictional book that Jen and I had started writing, many years ago, in which an eagle has a significant part in one chapter of the story. Each of the people in the circle took the feather and spoke. I started off because I thought that if I waited and listened to everyone else first I would not be able to choke out the words I wanted to say.

The words, "feisty'", "strong", "intelligent", "bold", "open", "beautiful" were all used - and many others as well. But the best thing about it was that all these adjectives referred to my child!

The surreal part was to hear others talk about my daughter, women who knew her only through her writings. They have read a lot of significance into her thoughts and words, relating the meanings to themselves and their beliefs. It was quite amazing - at one point it ran though my mind that I felt a little like being in an English Literature class, trying to understand the meanings of stories that reviewers have put to the writings of well known authors. She is, afterall, my child, and so my ideas of and conceptions about her have developed from years of experiencing life with her. They, on the other hand, saw images and hidden meanings that I had totally missed!

I am very thankful that I was given the opportunity to put myself in the background and listen to what others thought of my girl. It is not often that we are given such a gift. What a lesson I learned about how I will look at all my children from now on ....Astounding!!