Thank you for joining me here in this week's quiet little conversation, I very much appreciate you taking this time with my words, thoughts and images.

I want to offer you serene moments, to hold a space for you to let go of the breath you are holding, to undo the tension you might be carrying in your neck, your shoulders, and your face. To remind you of a place or an experience or a time in your life that is a touchstone for centering and grounding. 

The beach pictured above has been just such a place in my life for nearly 6 decades. I arrived there for the first time as a six year old, recently transplanted from the prairies of Alberta.

In my teens, I arrived there in a gorgeous little red Fiat convertible with the music of the 70s playing, all bundled with a blanket and the roof down. We'd drive there after work, and return hours later in the early morning hours, the stars filling the deep night sky, the heat and stereo both on full, the roof still down.

University in the city of Victoria meant camping out in the rain and the mist in a friend's car during February reading breaks.

Then a long gap….decades long….until I was able to return again nine years ago. The sight thrills my heart every time I see the first hint of the breakers landing on the beach. Then the feeling of encompassing joy as I walk along the edge of the sea, the waves rolling in endlessly from the wide open Pacific Ocean, the fresh sea air filling my lungs. Even in the long period of time I was away I carried these sounds, these sights, these scents in my heart, an inner seascape reminding me of my center. 

what place or memory, maybe a scent, or a certain quality of light or temperature - what experience do you have in your history that you can access to bring you back to yourself?

the art I create for you...the colours…the textures…and the words I write, are an invitation to slow down your nervous system, to reconnect with this place, to let go of everything you're holding in the body. won't you take a few moments to breathe, to sit in stillness, to just be…

And as always, I want to express my gratitude to be living and working on the ancestral & unceded territories of the hən̓̓qəmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh speaking peoples.I honour the incredible depths of grace, courage and perseverance of Indigenous Peoples.

until next time,

Mardell