Wow! What a week! The election is finally over and we’ll be in the midst of the holiday season in no time. Let’s savor this pause and take some time to do something nice for ourselves. You know, nourish our inner spirit, as my niece Caitlin would say.
One of the best ways I know to nourish my inner spirit is to give back. You don’t have to write some big check to a charity, but you could buy some Girl Scout cookies or put a dollar in the Salvation Army bucket. You can volunteer on a weekly basis or for a special event. Or bake some brownies and take ’em down to the Senior Center. Ask if you can do anything that day to help them out, or just drop off the brownies knowing you’ve made some elderly folks happy. Sometimes the littlest thing can make a difference in someone’s life. And if you’re in a funk, putting the focus on someone else helps you get over it and reconnect with yourself.
I remember a month or so after my mom died, as we were approaching our first holiday season without her, Dad, Irene and me were feeling blue. So as a family, we volunteered down to St. Hyacinths’, putting together food baskets and delivering them to needy families. It’s the best thing we could’ve done. We felt useful and grateful for our blessings. We started focusing on what we had, not on what we’d lost. By reconnecting and reenergizing, we could face the holiday—if not with enthusiasm, at least without dread.
You could also give blood. It’s one of them real feel-good things to do. My dad’s did it for years, so you’d think I’d have followed suit. But somehow, I just never did. I’m not afraid of needles or nothing; it just never quite made it to the front burner.
But a while back, I saw this story on television about a man who had donated blood his whole life, as often as he could. He was a real geezer now, but over the years, they figured he’d donated gallons and gallons of blood. Imagine! I found it inspiring! Now me and the Women Who Run with the Moose give blood at least once a year.
Nourishing Your Inner Spirit in Mahoosuc Mills Is . .
- Hearing the Sisters of St. Joseph sing hymns in French at 7:00 mass, on Christmas Eve. Always makes me cry, it’s so beautiful!
- Any food from when I was a kid, like a toasted cheese sandwich with Campbell’s tomato soup, or a fried baloney cup (fried baloney, filled with a scoop of mashed potato and topped with some creamed corn) or penny candy.
- Charlie and me up to Dot and Tommy’s camp, just the two of us at sunrise, sitting on the end of the dock, mist rising off the water, the lake like glass, watching the day begin.
What norishes your inner spirit?
That’s it for now. Catch you on the flip side!
Hear Ida Tell It: Do Something Nice for Yourself