A positive shift
You might say the shift is on.
This feels like a time to bridge the old and new. A season to clear out clutter and embrace a fresh start, while surrendering to not having full control over events.
More than doing a spring cleaning, there is a push and pull of taking healthy risks versus seeking certainty in what has worked before. Maintaining balance and not feeling overwhelmed by this will be a key going forward.
This dynamic energy is so apparent as Hope Floats prepares for our fifth Memory Walk this Saturday. Once again, Denise and I feel reinvigorated by the presence and contributions of so many people: her cadre of caring volunteers, a growing team of dedicated practitioners, and both longtime and newfound supporters.
The purpose of the walk has not changed and likely never will. We set out in memory of our loved ones. We gather in solidarity to say their names. We pause to commemorate their lives, to consider their gifts, and perhaps how we may carry their spirit forward.
Families and friends walking what can be such an isolating, damning road will join again in a common cause of support and remembrance.
Registration for the walk continues Saturday at 8:30 a.m. before the 10 a.m. start at Hope Floats Healing and Wellness Center, 4 Elm Street, in Kingston. 
Is it better surrendering to not having control over events and going for it?
Meanwhile, a big year is unfolding as Hope Floats expands its outreach. As you may know firsthand, the needs seem to keep growing—families suddenly dealing with the inexplicable loss of a child, parent, or partner, and others coping with a drug overdose or suicide loss.
To reach more children and teens directly, during the past two years we started the Mike’s Club support group. We expect to add another session later this year for children and families dealing with cancer and life-limiting illnesses.
To help accomplish this, we will be reaching out for the community’s help with a Mike’s Club building campaign. Our idea is to renovate a two-car garage into a “family room” for the children’s and family nights, and make the old house at 4 Elm Street handicapped accessible.
Soon to enter our tenth year, on Nov. 9 Hope Floats will hold a gala at the Jones River Trading Post with the theme “A Decade of Hope.” It will be both a celebration and gathering to thank and cultivate sustaining sponsors.
As we grow, that age-old question about taking risks rears up again:
Is it better surrendering to not having control over events and going for it? This certainly tests how far we can stretch. Letting go of some certainties, and casting off whatever baggage that clings there, may actually help recharge the batteries.
How does this play out for you?
****
If you have another minute, here is a link to a post that remembers a close friend of mine in a different way—creating an “Unforgotten Garden” in memory of Doug Wright, behind Hope Floats.
It’s about honoring the space we carve out to carry forward his spirit, and others we miss. The piece was published in my column on Psychology Today’s website this week.
Piecing together our memories with some kind of renewal is a challenge. Sharp-edged components such as our regrets and failings don’t fit neatly into place.
