The Last Piece Of Furniture Bought: Day #14

Five days since our last blog post and what a peaceful time it has been. Fridays through Sundays are not usually posting days for us and yesterday, Monday, October 13 was Thanksgiving Day here in Canada.

Over this period, we continued to pose and answer the October Questions of the Day on our Facebook page.

Today, Day #14 and the next question in the series which really is not a question is to describe the last piece of furniture you bought. Given that on a Tuesday we also deal with relationship issues on DOS, an actual question was added.

Image: pinterest.com

What I will, therefore, attempt to do in this post is: "Describe the last piece of furniture that I bought and how it affects my significant relationships."

Regular readers will know that I returned to Canada almost six months to the day. Leaving Jamaica was not my first choice as I had gone there late 2013 to set up a snow bird base. That bird being me - the one who was getting tired of Canadian winters and following up a long held desire to return to the land of my birth.

I had reluctantly migrated to Canada a decade plus ago. My then partner had an unquenchable desire to live overseas and mine was equally to please said desire. When that relationship ended eight years ago to the day, I knew I wanted to return to Jamaica. Money, however, stopped me.

Without the necessary financial resources and foreseeable means to earn it on the island, I had to remain in Canada. As the years passed, my longing did not die and so, in 2013 still without a largesse in hand but with a promise of a good flow of income, I gave away what little furniture I had left and went home.

After five months and the promises not materializing, news of my daughter's pregnancy and with her reconnecting with me, I returned to my other 'home' - Edmonton.

Now, I can honestly say this was the best decision for this leg of my journey. As I sat on the Westjet flight taking me back to the city where our Canadian citizenship began, I knew this was a healing time.

People often ask me, especially men, what do I like to do in my spare time. My response always highlights my love of cooking. Yet, it is more than cooking.

My passion is to feed the soul - my own and that of others.

Comfort is what I specialise in - comfort food and comforting words. I love to cook as much as I love to communicate. Throughout my adult years and most definitely since I accepted what I believe to be my mission for the rest of my life, some of the most meaning-filled conversations occurred in my kitchen.

The last and most significant piece of furniture that I bought was a dark wood, four seat dining table. It has a chip on one corner that lends character to it.

My daughter and granddaughter at breakfast

When I moved into my new place a few months ago, I told my daughter,  the first and one of the most significant persons in my life, to be fed at my 'new' dining table that I will be not be furnishing the place lavishly but lovingly.

Lavish or close to it I have done before and it did not bring me love. This time around, my place is furnished with few pieces, most of which were either given to me or bought secondhand, like the dining table.

There are a few new pieces, appliances and odds and ends. For the most part, however, my place will be sparsely furnished and with the greatest emphasis on the kitchen.

Food for the body and soul is my 'business' and my last purchased piece of furniture - my dining table - is my main equipment.

What was yours? Share with us here or on our Facebook page. Whatever it was, do make the most of it.

Namaste

Claudette is the Founder of DOS Foundation and Editor and main Author of this blog

Soul Food

There was a time in my life when all I wanted was to be in an intimate relationship and to have a throng of friends.

Chalk those desires up to not having a model of a working and caring intimate relationship in my childhood. As well, I quenched my thirst for romance through Mills and Boones' novels and all that taught me was love was an illusive thing.

Being an only child, I desperately wanted the camaderie of a big family, brothers and sisters to play with and learn from. There were other children in our house from time to time, boarders and such the like, however there was always an invisible barrier between us. My mother did not encourage my having friends, so the longing grew deeper.

It was not until 35 years later that I realized what that empty, piercing space meant. Lovers, marriages and friends (some really good ones and some that I could have done well without) had come and gone. Yet, the hole deepened almost reaching the soles of my feet.

During one of those moments, when standing was too painful and I laid on my tummy in the walk-in closet of my spacious bedroom, that awareness came.

Working as a hospital chaplain, it was my privilege to sit with people from all walks of life. Often, as we held hands (I am a touchy-feely kind of person), patients would let me into their most intimate space - their souls. Never did I hear one of these patients say, "I wish I had more friends, more money, more lovers." Most had lots of friends, close family and a spouse.

What these patients expressed, particularly the terminally ill and/or the ones who I was standing in the gap with as they made their transition, was a desire for God/Source/Light.

Different names were used to describe the love that their souls were reaching for in those moments. Some were not Christians or "believers" of any traditional 'way'. As a multifaith chaplain, I had to serve Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Wiccans, and atheists among others. Lying on those hospital beds, surrounded or not by loved ones, the desire was the same - to connect with the Soul's Source.

Lying on my closet floor, seemingly alone, abandoned and lost, I too reached out for that connection. What was said is hardly important. It was the feeling, the urgent wordless cry to be reconnected, aligned and in lockstep with all that is, The One, that 'saved' me.

I do not know your beliefs, your path or your way. Actually, it does not matter. It is the care of your soul and mine that unites us and all that matters to me.

No lover, no friend, not even family can feed your inner being what it really needs. They may point a way but it will be theirs. Only you can find that Source of food that will feed you.

If there is any help that we may offer, a drink of water on your journey, please free to ask. You make connect with us through this blog, on Facebook or Twitter.

Be blessed and have a great Sunday! Namaste