It is more than a week now since our national election.  All of us are feeling a variety of emotions. 

The hours of light are obviously getting shorter each day.  It’s that time of the year when we intentionally think about and celebrate the lives of loved ones who have died. 

If you are registered to vote in Colorado, you now have your ballot.  There is a lot on the ballot, and no one can have all the information on everything, so we trust reliable sources to help us understand.  Restoring Connections, from its 25 years experience working with incarcerated individuals, is encouraging a NO vote on Proposition 128. 

Our annual virtual candle lighting for loved ones who have passed on is in November.  If you would like to honor someone who has been important in your own life with a tribute and candle, we invite you to make your submission by November 14.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Domestic violence is of particular concern to all of us due to its pervasiveness. Nearly one in four women and one in nine men are victims of domestic violence according to the National Institutes of Health. Domestic violence is about control over another family member and can involve physical, sexual, emotional, economic and psychological abuse.

During these early days of the fall season, we are reviewing with all our mentors and soul care providers vital information about suicide prevention and the needs of survivors of suicide loss.  All of us can make a difference.  Relationships are important.

If you are concerned about a friend or family member who may be at risk of suicide, call or text 988.  It’s a direct connection to professional support.

September is national suicide awareness month.  This is a good time to remember loved ones who have been lost through suicide and to educate ourselves proactively about risks, warning factors and how to help.  It’s also an opportunity to reflect on our own quality of self-care, how connected we are to a sense of meaning and purpose in our own lives and the importance of nurturing personal relationships.

On Friday, August 23, we graduated another cohort in our Formation Program for Soul Care Providers.  It was a day of real celebration.  It also marks a letting go.  This will be the final offering of the program through Restoring Connections.

August 17 is National Nonprofit Day.  This is an important opportunity to learn more about nonprofits and to celebrate their important contributions.   Nonprofits play a vital role in community development.  They provide essential services that would otherwise be unavailable.  They provide direct services like food and shelter and supportive services like skills training and mentoring.  They foster the culture of the community.  They inspire and bring people together to heal, to challenge, to advocate for change and to ensure the common good.  Communities with strong nonprofits score higher on societal health, positive lifestyles, community stability and social cohesion.

I’m personally celebrating 25 years as a volunteer working with people during incarceration and re-entry.  It was August 1999, when Restoring Connections began volunteer programs in Denver Women’s Correctional Facility.  Since that time, we have companioned over 1,350 individuals during incarceration and re-entry.  Ninety-four percent of the individuals who have been released remain successfully in the community and are employed, completed some kind of training or schooling and some are homeowners. 

During July we had the opportunity to recognize and to reflect on the gifts that grandparents and elders bring to the community.  We enjoyed our in-person and online workshops on grandparenting as well as the opportunity to share in writing some important research on the impacts of this special relationship.  

This month is a wonderful time for us to reflect on the value and the vocation of elders in our community.  We live in a challenging time when the U.S. Surgeon General and the CDC have declared a mental health crisis in our youth. 

It will soon officially be summer, although the summer heat has been with us for some time.  Summer is supposed to allow for a little slower pace, time for vacation, time to refresh and renew, time for enjoyment.  It’s a good time to check in with ourselves.

We are called back again to something we have known for a long time.  Peace in our families, in our neighborhoods and in our world requires a commitment to the active practice of nonviolence and a willingness to engage our conflicts with transformative skills.

Are you wanting more out of this time?  

Are you wanting to address your own need for healing?  

Are you wondering if your life has a real purpose? 

Take a moment to reflect on your own answers to these questions. Fliers with these questions are posted in each unit in Denver Women’s Correctional Facility. They draw women to request a pairing with one of our Soul Care Mentors.  Following an interview, they are paired with a mentor who meets individually with them twice a month.  It is a confidential relationship that addresses the reasons they ended up incarcerated and provides guidance for healing and forgiveness.

May is National Health Month and much of our attention is on providing people with resources and support systems for addressing the challenges and stresses in life. When we consider mental health, it is more than the absence of mental illness. In the healthy population, there are varying degrees of mental health. Also, at different times during our lives, we all experience varying degrees of mental health

We celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday. People associate this day with flowers, cards, phone calls and taking mom out to breakfast. For those of us who have been fortunate enough to be raised by a mother who nurtured us, believed in us, and helped us to see our value and worth, this is an important day for remembering and giving thanks—and sharing the love that we have received. Mothers not only birth us into the world, they help us become ourselves and discover that unique and wonderful gift that each of us brings to making our world a better place. Moms, we celebrate and thank you!

Mental health is a matter of concern for all of us, both individually and communally. We’re well aware that our young people are experiencing mental issues in an unprecedented way.

A life orientation of gratitude is supported by some simple practices.

Gratitude is more life-encompassing than a simple thank you. If we make it a life orientation, it changes everything.