I’ve arrived in my new home, but I’m not settled yet. 
Gosh, but moving takes a long, long time! Intellectually I know it is highest on the stress scale, even higher than death and divorce, but I hadn’t anticipated the length of it. I thought it was a task of purging/sorting/packing and then unpacking/purging/setting up, and it is, but it is so much more. It’s a process that can’t be hurried. I can not settle in any faster than I am. I’d like to. I’d like to wave my magic wand and have my home in order and a new life established, but I simply can’t do it. All of my organizing competencies can’t make it happen quickly. I’m like a tender shoot that has been transplanted and it takes time to get over the shock, root and grow before blooming.
I’m realizing I’m not in charge. I’m so not in charge.
This morning I was aware that I’m the same person that I was before I got whipped around and dropped on the edge of the country, and although I’ve lost all my old anchors, disciplines and rhythms, I still need them. On some level I understand that they will be different here and I need the freedom to find new anchors, disciplines and rhythms, but I also know they will be similar or familiar. I still need to eat healthily, but who will inspire me? I still need to exercise, but what form will that take? I will still pray, but what will it look like? I will still study, but what will be it’s focus? I will still live compassionately, but who will that touch?
During the last two years writing ‘Mystic in Motion’ has been another anchor for me. You, Gentle Readers, have been people who have shared my adventure. Writing helps me process what is transpiring. I always feel well as I finish a piece and connect with you. Some of you I know, and some of you I don’t know. I appreciate you all being there and sharing my journey. I remain a ‘mystic’ who is ‘in motion’. This time, much of my motion relates to the upheaval of a move across my country.
I’m back. Writing is part of my life. And you, Gentle Readers as you receive me are part of my life.
On Monday I leave for a week of solitude, silence and stillness. I hope it will be a week where I can be open to God’s Spirit to hear my next steps in this new life. I’ve arrived, and I need to settle. Please pray for me.
(This was one of our sunsets last week.)
Love and Prayers
Anne+
Mystic in Motion
Contemplative Fire Community Leader Canada
Mystic in Motion 
With a sunset embracing you like that …. !
The sunset has all the time in the world.
Always returning in the midst of ‘unsettlement.’
And, always there in the same place when you are finally settled.
LikeLike
God Bless you as you settle in, Anne. I am so glad that you are sharing again. This posting is especially helpful as I help my brother move from an apartment to a care home. Thank you.
LikeLike
Thanks Anne. Good to hear from you.
LikeLike
Anne: Very glad to hear from you again. Years ago when I was young , my friend , her married brother and I rented a sailboat and sailed the Gulf islands for a week. Lots of interesting experiences and the last trip for my friend who had been ill. We almost capsized the first day out. The three of us got into the little life boat for a tour around an inlet, we trapped crabs and cooked them, we got deep tans. A beautiful place. Love, and prayers, Joan
LikeLike
Good to hear from you Joan. It remains a beautiful part of the world.
LikeLike
Good to hear from you Anne. Blessings on your gradual rooting there and your retreat next week. Peace. Mary
LikeLike
Thanks Mary. Good to hear from you too!
LikeLike
Dear Anne, We have never met, but you may know my friend, Evadne Wilkinson from St. Paul’s.
Five years ago last month, we moved from Toronto, our home of 38 years, to Edmonton to be near our granddaughter, daughter and son-in-law. I retired the year before we came. Fortunately, that fall of 2013, when I was unsettled and transitioning I found a study group at a church made up of other recently transplanted women. We watched a video and used the book After the Boxes are Unpacked: Moving on After Moving In by Susan Miller. Although, I only attended the group 3 times, the book encouraged me to put my focus on the Lord because he is bigger than the circumstances that surround me! And I was encouraged by Isaiah 26:4 “Trust in the Lord God always, for in the Lord Jehovah is your everlasting strength” (Isa. 26:4, LB).
I felt God wanted me to be involved with university students when I retired, but how would that happen in a new city? Late that fall, I found out that the U of A International Fellowship Staff person was going on a 6 month Sabbatical and he asked me to take over his 2 hour a week advanced ESL class with mostly post-grad international students. I had to develop my own curriculum for the class and that work and mental stimulation moved me into some wonderful relationships and gave me new purpose and direction. I have since led English and the Bible groups to help those who are curious about Christianity to find out what the Bible and a relationship with God is all about.
I know God has good things for you Anne. He is delighting over you with love and is out to do you good! You have blessed me and countless others with your blog and I am so glad you have started writing again.
Your sister, Sandra Miners
________________________________
LikeLike
I’m deeply touched by your response Sandra. Thank you so much for your encouragement and story. I just may look up that book after retreat time. Sisters in Spirit Anne
LikeLike
I keep reading this, Anne.
Thinking of you and sending a prayer
For you.
LikeLike
So lovely to hear from you Anne and you express yourself so very well. I can empathize a great deal. My prayers are with you in your week away.
Blessings, Elayne
LikeLike
Thanks Elayne!
LikeLike