“The soul is like a wild animal—tough, resilient, savvy, self-sufficient and yet exceedingly shy. If we want to see a wild animal, the last thing we should do is to go crashing through the woods, shouting for the creature to come out. But if we are willing to walk quietly into the woods and sit silently for an hour or two at the base of a tree, the creature we are waiting for may well emerge, and out of the corner of an eye we will catch a glimpse of the precious wildness we seek.”

– Parker Palmer

“Momma, I love when we do the calm things. The smelly oils. The soft music. Sitting and coloring. Talking quietly. Can we do that even when we’ve not been upset?”

– Kid 2 Sumner

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I’ve been paying close attention to my kiddo’s needs lately, as I feel they aren’t being met in her current situations. When she asked for this calm, quiet, spa-like space on the regular, I remembered Parker Palmer’s words. And I remembered my own soul is as wild and shy as anyone’s.

Grandma has kid this morning. so sabbatical looks like pre-cooking and freezing nutritious on-the-go breakfasts for kid so that she can eat while we walk the dog once i’m back to work and school.

It’s not really a rest. and, to the joy of my fundamentalist pastors of old, i’m barefoot in the kitchen…

but it’s sacred work.

Parker Palmer says that the soul is a wild animal. Not that she is fierce necessarily, but that she is cautious, savvy, shy. she only ventures out when it feels safe. she is only calm, still, receptive, when she is entering a safe space.

today’s sabbatical work is telling my own soul that i am preparing a safe world for her. that i know what is coming her way is too much to fit gently into the days ahead. that i, of all people, can be trusted with her tenderness and cumulative exhaustion.

i love when my soul comes out to play, rather than my worn out, highly performative, praise addicted false self. but so often the pace of my life (for literally life and death reasons most of the last eight years) feels unsafe for the wild and wonderful animal at the heart of me.

today i’m telling my wild soul that i see her and i am preparing safe space for her when school starts next week and sabbatical ends in two weeks and change.

And later, when kid is home, we’ll use the calm smells and sit down with Mozart and doodle along with Van Gough using soft voices as though inviting a doe to venture out of the forest.

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I wonder if/how you are cultivating safe space for your wild and wonderful soul today?