I've been trying to compose a reply that expresses how grateful I am for this newsletter but then deleting what I've written because it isn't good enough. It took me a few moments to stop and reflect on this and the fact that I'm commenting on a post about...enoughness. As always, beautiful work, Anastasia. Thank you for sharing all of this insight.
Oh my gosh. Thank you for writing this. I have a very similar life story, and you captured the feeling in a way that I will need to read several more times to process. Thank you. This is beautiful.
Abundance is an interesting word. It is often associated with material possessions, but its original use has nothing to do with earthly matters. It means "to overflow," and refers to spirituality - to an abundance of joy and love. In the Bible (I am not inferring anything about religion, but about usage; also, I teach theology), it is used about 70 times and, while it sometimes refers to material goods, its main usage refers to an abundance of joy, of love (for God or one another). For its agrarian readers (or listeners), it refers to an abundance of the fruits of the Earth, and encourages sharing of those fruits. The Bible makes clear that abundance and poverty are not opposites, but associated: even the poorest can have an abundance of joy and love. It is only in modern western capitalism that the corrupt association of abundance with material stuff has become so dominant.
I think you are already leading a life of abundance, abundance in the joy of writing and words, in teaching, in working with others, in your love of the natural world. When you refer to abundance as a feeling of safety, I think you are spot on. We cannot experience the abundance of life on this Earth unless we feel safe. I hope and trust that you continue with that feeling, and that abundance grows in your life.
I've been trying to compose a reply that expresses how grateful I am for this newsletter but then deleting what I've written because it isn't good enough. It took me a few moments to stop and reflect on this and the fact that I'm commenting on a post about...enoughness. As always, beautiful work, Anastasia. Thank you for sharing all of this insight.
Oh my gosh. Thank you for writing this. I have a very similar life story, and you captured the feeling in a way that I will need to read several more times to process. Thank you. This is beautiful.
Abundance is an interesting word. It is often associated with material possessions, but its original use has nothing to do with earthly matters. It means "to overflow," and refers to spirituality - to an abundance of joy and love. In the Bible (I am not inferring anything about religion, but about usage; also, I teach theology), it is used about 70 times and, while it sometimes refers to material goods, its main usage refers to an abundance of joy, of love (for God or one another). For its agrarian readers (or listeners), it refers to an abundance of the fruits of the Earth, and encourages sharing of those fruits. The Bible makes clear that abundance and poverty are not opposites, but associated: even the poorest can have an abundance of joy and love. It is only in modern western capitalism that the corrupt association of abundance with material stuff has become so dominant.
I think you are already leading a life of abundance, abundance in the joy of writing and words, in teaching, in working with others, in your love of the natural world. When you refer to abundance as a feeling of safety, I think you are spot on. We cannot experience the abundance of life on this Earth unless we feel safe. I hope and trust that you continue with that feeling, and that abundance grows in your life.