The Healing Porch2: Rest for Weary Souls

[sanmagic7]

el, to me it makes you sound real.  there's definitely something true about the music that comes off vinyl. 

so good to see you back here, wife2.  you really have made this place magical, soothing, and beautiful.  thank you again.

that pier gave me an idea, and i'm so happy.  behind the log cabin is a lake, stocked with all sorts of freshwater fish.  a little boat tied to a pier that can take me to any part of the lake so i can just fish for a bit at dawn, my favorite time of day.  anyone is welcome.  that's what i'm doing today.  then, a magical fish fry - all cleaned and scaled and delicious.  nothing like fresh perch to me.

yummy!

[Elphanigh]

San, I am glad it makes me sound real. I do truly love the sound of it off of vinyl. 

[DecimalRocket]

Hi Wife#2. Nice to meet you. I've heard about you when I've gone through old recovery journal entries on this site before, and I wondered if we could interact someday.

Elpha and San inspired  me to flow my imagination into this place so I thought I'd try it more.

I want to be in the forest sitting under the shade of the tree. The seasons would change forward and backward at a flick of my finger. I'd write in my notebook how the leaves and the greens of the forest change, how animals live from the little ants' strategies of working together to bigger deers eating habits, the light and shadow of objects and the movement of the stars and sky.

Sounds . . . wondrous.

[Wife#2]

DR - I can see the scenery! It's beautiful and peaceful and soul-building. The twitch of a fawn's ear. The subtle scraw sounds of insects pushing leaves aside as they scurry along a fallen tree. The play of light as the breeze sways the branches with all their wide green leaves. The call of birds close, but not visible.

Thank you! This place is great for allowing your creativity to flow. Your imagery is a salve to my hurting heart today. I think I'll take that comfort and wrap it close to my heart with a gentle calmness blanket. With tea this morning. On the forest side of the porch.

[Blueberry]

I love flipping through old vinyl collections, there Is something cathartic about looking through them all compared to online music. I know that makes me sound old 

I can picture you flipping through which keeps imagery of the Porch in mind. I don't think it makes you sound old. It sounds as if you're a tactile person.

[Elphanigh]

I am definitely a tactile person. Hands on is the best in a lot of ways

[Mia2017]

This is so beautiful here! Thank you so much, Blueberry, for introducing me to it  and thank you very much wife#2 for creating it!  Hello to everyone here  . I am Mia.

Today I feel like going to a nice and comfy lawn chair, sitting in the sun to relax the tension in my hip, which is hurting badly again today. I like to watch the puppies playing on the lawn and listen to the birds singing in the trees. There is a little breeze moving the branches slightly. It's wonderful breathing in fresh air and enjoying the stillness away from cars and traffic. I have a cup of herbal tea, which smells good. If anyone would like some, too, I made a larger pot to share 

This is the first time today that I can calm down a bit. I am so thankful I can be here with you all 

[DecimalRocket]

Hi Mia. Welcome to OOTS and the porch.  Glad you're enjoying nature and your tea. It's really relaxing in here, isn't it?

I thought I'd do something different here today and take a walk around the porch. What is it like to touch the ocean's gentle movements beating into and out of the sand without thinking of water's covalent bonds? What is it like to see the majesty of the stars above without thinking of the nuclear fusion in them? What is it like to be under the shades of grand trees without thinking of its complex ecosystem? The tranquility without deep thought?

Just the ocean as the ocean. Just the stars as the stars. Just the forest and the forest.

Just me as me . . .

I've walked around and I still don't get it. But I've felt a spark of peacefulness in me, and I wondered why.

[Blueberry]

I've come onto the Porch for a break between writing about myself and doing moderating.  But really I need either to take a break IRL and do something nurturing and/or write more about myself before moving onto moderating. Move to music to process and then write? Anyway coming onto the Porch has helped me to not go immediately onto moderating.


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Actually I had a long read over at the original Healing Porch instead. That was really good. That Porch feels warm and summery and somehow with this new Porch I can't get the winter out of my head though I don't want it around, if that makes sense.

I'm going to add a volière of birds. There is one near my therapist's place, with 4 subsections, and I almost always visit them after therapy. I talk to them and listen to them and watch them. However, T is coming to an end, my appointments will be getting a lot less frequent, so I won't be going to that town much anymore. Need to have a volière here instead.

[woodsgnome]

 
I found myself, again, here on the porch. Something new, over there...I'm drawn to it, don't question why--this is the porch, I come to it to lose my mind, not think so much, not knowing what I'll find--somehow I just know I'll find the peace here I can't find elsewhere, no matter how hard I try.

Today I noticed there was a new shelf, and a sound system nearby; hadn't seen these before. The shelf was filled with vinyl records with an explanatory note attached [referencing Reply #27 of this thread by Wife#2]. Music, my heart's delight! Scanning through, I notice several items that speak to me--heart music, I call it. I soon realize these are perfect, exactly what I need today--and drift into the peaceful rhythms of a life worth living, the one that was meant to be, the one that seemed so hard in that strange place called 'real' life.

Where did that life go wrong? No time for that here; I pick out more tunes, absorb and soar into the essence of their messages, which I can only find in music.

Who knows how long I spent here. But on leaving, I found some crayons and paper from a box I'd previously stashed nearby, and scratched out a little note for the friend who left these: "Thank you for these, Wife#2. They were precisely what my soul needed to find today, here on this peaceful porch. Thanks again and here's my drawing...I hope it's alright...          

[Wife#2]

Oh, porch visitors, you all warm my heart so much!

Elph - here's a big hug on principle - I just love you, little sister, so very much! San, where are you? You get one of these soul-encompassing hugs as well!

Decimal - my wonderful, smart, beautiful soul new friend - my first rule of life is breathe. It's kind of a yoga/zen thing, and it helps me every day. Just think about breath filling your lungs, giving your blood the oxygen it needs, that little bit of oxygen floating around in your blood, finding just the cell that needed it's healing. That little cell releasing all the CO2 that had been holding it back, absorbing that clean oxygen. The blood, hard worker that it is, carrying that CO2 back to the lungs so it can be expelled good and permanently from your body. Ahhhhhh...... Yes. Now, another draw in of that magnificent, body healing, invisible air. This is how I came to think of the porch. I used to do this very exercise just because it occurred to me, while sitting on the very large (especially to my childhood eyes) front porch of the rambling huge home I grew up in. I would close my eyes, pretend I was completely alone (crowded large family) and breathe.

Woodsgnome - I am so very glad that the vinyl collection made your day better! I love the picture you drew for me. Do you mind if I frame it and place it on the mantle piece? Just up there, to the right of the record collection shelves.

Now that it's winter weather, I will start a fire in the wood-burning fireplace. And in the portable biers outside. I may even take a few unsent letters and burn them here. Watching their ashes float out of the bier and into the night air, seeing how they have lost their weight. It releases me from the pain those letters represented. In with a deep breath.... out for 2 seconds longer.... Ahhh. I am alive. I am valuable. Some treasure me. I treasure you right back! For this feeling I can continue my journey. This porch heals me to have the strength to get through just one more day. Then, I return and am strengthened enough for one more day.

Ahhh, the music is relaxing and invigorating all at the same time. I can feel my body relax and move. This, the elemental beauty of the music and of my soul moving together - yes. I will move with the music as I set up the ipods for those who prefer different music right now. The fires are stoked, I am breathing. The candles are lit. More air for my healing. The blankets warmed and the snacks (no calories on the healing porch!) and beverages are set up on little tables around the porch and living space inside. The windows are half-closed but all the curtains are drawn back anyway. Light passes in and out of the windows, so that all can feel connected regardless of their location. We can even see through the house to the other porch areas! Breathing deeply one more time.

It's time to return to the working world for me. I'll be back as time allows.  Every soul here matters to me. Even you! Especially you. Thank you for widening my world with your existence and your journey that has touched mine for this season. I consider myself blessed to have met you.

[Elphanigh]

Wife2, that made my day  I am so grateful to be your sister. It is always so amazing to hear from you <3 Sending you a hug full of warmth and so much love.

The wood burning fireplace is my favorite, I think I will sit there for a while, enjoying the music and smell of candles.

[Three Roses]

W2, you have a gift for writing.

[Wife#2]

Thank you, Three Roses. I had lost touch with that gift, along with my tears and deepest emotions. They are resurfacing. You encourage me by letting me know the gift did not decay while it hibernated. The tears are remembering how to flow, and reminding me of the healing they can bring. Happy and sad tears are both welcome again.

My heart is beating a little stronger right now. I think it's gratitude. And love. Thank you.

[LittleBird]

Thank you for all you bring here, I'm so grateful. It's peaceful here  thanks for letting me join you.