June Happy Hippy Mama

Happy June Everyone!  

I am afraid to say it but I think Summer is finally here!  It has taken its time this season, and I am trying to remain patient, but it has not been easy.

In May I completed a Whole30.  Thanks to the food choices I made over the 30-day program, I feel energized and ready for summer.  Whole30 is a commitment, but I always feel healthier, stronger, and in more control, once it is over.  If you would like to learn more about Whole30 please join our group on Facebook: Happy Hippy Mama and friends do Whole30.  We encourage each other, share photographs of food, and compliant recipes.  I feel strongly that doing Whole30 with a group has many benefits, so please join our group and feel supported as you try something new.

This month I am sharing an excerpt from my blog https://storiesfromasoulsister.wordpress.com.  I started writing as a way to heal after losing my best friend. This excerpt is from a post about Dreaming.  Writing and helping others through grief, is a dream I dared to dream in a time when I wasn’t sure I had any dreams left.

                                                                           Dream a Little Dream

Ding (Text message)- Hi Emily!  My friend just lost a close friend to Cancer.  Would you be able to reach out to her? I don’t know how to help.  Could you try?

Me (Through a million tears)- Yes a 100 times. Yes.  I am so sad for your friend and would love to get in touch with her. xoxo

Also Me- Continue to feel emotional and all the feels the rest of the day, because a little dream I dared to dream is coming true.  (If you are new here, my little dream is to help others with loss)

When my best friend Heidi died, I was in shock.  I was brave and did the best I could, but I was in shock.  I didn’t break into a million pieces. I kept going, and when I came to places where I realized I wasn’t doing my best, I paused and thought and tried a different way.   

I wanted to find a way to live more authentically and heal but that was HARD.  What if my healing made other people upset? What if I lost friends? What if I said too much? What if it wasn’t my story to tell? What if I try and I am not good?  What if…What if…What if…

I felt like I needed permission.  Permission to write. Permission to share my story.  Permission to heal.

I went inside myself a bit, but I continued to listen.  My family and friends told me to keep going, so I did. I sought counseling, yoga, and movement and started truly healing.

I am learning that I don’t need permission. No one has to listen.  It is my hope that people will, but if they don’t that is OK.  It is the act of being authentic, continuing to dream, and helping those that want to listen, that helps me heal.  When Heidi got sick and died, I didn’t know how to do any of this. Who does?

I am not an expert.  Everything I have done, you can do.  By no means, in any way am I saying I GET grief or loss.  I don’t. I simply keep trying, learning, and sharing. What comes up and out, is my truth.

If my story speaks to you, then I am doing the right thing.  I don’t think everything happens for a reason. I can’t think of a reason my amazing, beautiful, life of the party friend had to die.  But, if I stop and breathe, I am learning to find meaning. To focus on how she can live on, not how she died. To tell my story and DREAM(again) while carrying Heidi in my heart.

To continue the conversation visit  https://storiesfromasoulsister.wordpress.com,  email HappyHippyMama@yahoo.com, or LIKE us on Facebook at Happy Hippy Mama.

This Month’s Mantra:

Dream It, then Real Life It

June Movement Option in our Neighborhood:

Jazzercise at Shore

Instructor: Sun Ok Jackson                                  

When: Tuesdays & Thursdays 6:15 -7:30 pm, Saturdays 9 - 10:30 am

Adults   Auditorium Gym

A blend of aerobics, yoga, pilates, and kickboxing set to fresh music.

All fitness levels are welcome.

Contact the instructor for information, fees, and registration:

(216) 261-6178 or sunokjazz@yahoo.com

Community Mental Health Group:

Grief and Loss Meet Up                                                                                                                                           

Every Monday                                                                                                                                                                   

7:30 pm                                                                                                                                                                        

Room 104 East Shore Church 23002 Lakeshore Blvd.                                                                                

Questions: Contact Emily Holody at 330-256-6641

Join me next month when we discuss all things gardening, and how getting dirty helps me live.

Until Next time…Namaste