My friend (we call her E) is dealing with serious health issues, and she’s so strong about it. Sometimes people fight these things in every way possible, and some of us do what we can but with a more accepting “it is what it is” attitude. This is my friend. I want her to live long past that haunting prognosis, so it’s my intent to help her with her home environment so it can be fully nurturing, encouraging her autonomic nervous system to rest in a relaxation response as much as possible.
As anyone can imagine and would expect, she’s been in an ongoing state of overwhelm. She’s an at-home worker who fosters cats with an at-home adult son, plus she manages an aggressively full medical schedule and the emotional whirlwind of gracefully tying a bow on the immeasurable gift of her life. Overwhelm to the ninth power is expected.
When people are overwhelmed, they will often surrender or become disengaged, focusing only on essentials. We want E’s days to be as smooth-flowing as possible, so my son Ash and I will be stopping in as often as is feasible for the hour-plus drive.
Here is a picture of Ash helping E to scrape Halloween spiders (!) from her massive, gorgeous windows. They were an amusing, quirky touch, but it’s springtime, so the spooky spiders must go. 🙂
Ash is neurodivergent (nonverbal) and helps in important ways such as “busy work” that benefits from intense focus. It means a lot to him to be helpful and contribute to our home-to-healing-sanctuary business.
Together, the three of us did all that we could within a fairly generous window of time. Our work is an art of weaving what I perceive “needs doing” with the needs and desires of clients (in this case, my friend). So this recent visit was mostly opening windows to move a current of fresh spring air through her spacious house, and tending to wherever my eyes landed. We applied cat scratch furniture protectors to a sofa and some lower wall areas, and we made the sliding-glass entrance sparkle. (A home’s entrance is particularly important to focus on.) It was a busy day! We paused for pizza and got right back to work until Ash and I had to leave, getting home before the setting sun.
E reported that the house felt “lighter” and I could tell that she also felt lighter. Another word for it is relieved, having a weight removed from your shoulders. How overjoyed I was to know the effects of about five hours of Awakened Action (or WWLD: What Would Love Do?) for a friend who needed some extra hands and support. I was also amused when she told me that her son came home from work and was “shocked” – but even better, he suggested to his mom that, rather than moving into another place with his fiancé, maybe he could buy her house! (That is to say, he felt the love.) WIN, WIN, WIN!
Next time, we’ll plan to quickly upkeep all that was done, plus organize her bedroom (which doubles as a hobby space, and E has a lot of hobby ambition)! It is so necessary to have a simplified, organized bedroom for a good night’s sleep, so I’m looking forward to returning soon (and I’m grateful to her for letting me share her story).