This morning I started what I hope will be a semi-regular Sunday morning routine. While I was making and eating brunch (waffles and bacon today), I listened to an episode of my favourite podcast, Unlocking Us, by Brené Brown.
Let me backtrack a bit. For months I’ve been trying to find a way to fit in time for listening to more podcasts, because with women like Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton and Brené Brown launching podcasts in 2020, how could I not? Sometimes I would listen to podcasts while I was working in the kitchen doing meal prep on Sundays, but that only worked if I had the main floor of our house to myself. Through the fall, I was trying to get out for long walks a few times a week and I loved listening to a podcast while I walked. The last couple of months I have been exhausted from other commitments, and I didn’t always have the time or energy during daylight hours to walk. This morning I was the first one up, and I had the time and space (plus a great new portable bluetooth speaker) to listen while I worked. Today was the last day of a four-day weekend I took for myself, and I decided I wanted waffles.
I first heard of Bishop Michael Curry when he delivered the fiery sermon at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The podcast episode I listened to today, released on September 30, was about love. Not romantic love, but the same kind of fierce, fiery love he talked about in that sermon. This episode has been on my “listen to this” list for a while, and I chose it today because it fits with a theme that emerged from my morning meditation.
I was thinking about Sunday mornings, and how they have evolved for me. Growing up, I spent most Sundays in church. For the first few years of my life, we were CEO’s (Christmas, Easter, and Other special occasions), but when my parents split up, the United Church of Canada became an enormous part of my moms support network. In high school, over half of my volunteer work was church-related. I stopped going to church after high school, reverting back to being a CEO, and then eventually, to not attending services at all. However, I still have a need for stillness and reflection on Sunday mornings, whether it is sitting in my meditation space, at my desk with my journals, or in the garden. This week on the blog I’ll be exploring some of the themes related to that evolution.
In the meantime, if you’re interested in hearing an entertaining discussion about love in hard times, why we’re struggling now, and how love drives the movements that change our society for the better, check out the podcast (for free) on Spotify or read the transcript here. There were a lot of similarities to one of my favourite books of 2020, “See No Stranger,” by Valarie Kaur. Love is messy, love is fierce, love is revolutionary.