Goodness Weekly 3.24.25
“I know that the purpose of life is to understand and be in the present moment with the people you love. It's just that simple.”
- Jane Seymour
What’s Good
Our friends at the Terrell Heights Neighborhood Association are hosting a free, family-friendly Movie Night in the Park! Join them at Charis Park on Friday, March 28, for a showing of Bolt. Expect the movie to start around at 7:45 PM, or sunset. Free popcorn will be provided by Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, with food and drinks courtesy of District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte. Bring a blanket, grab a snack, and enjoy an evening with neighbors under the stars.
Grace Periods
Jess Lowry, Executive Director, Sunset Ridge Collective
When you are human, there is suffering. Walking through life without a stormy season or a cloudy day just isn’t possible. But we’ve been talking a lot recently about how you walk through the storms that are an inevitable part of what it means to be human.
I’ve noticed a tendency in myself to be ever anticipating the next storm. Where is the next shoe that will drop, how will I handle it, change course, navigate loss or change or discomfort of pain. This bit of hypervigilance has been wired within me to be on high alert most of the time, even when there are not major storms happening, I’m looking for the next one to come.
I was talking about this with my therapist and something clicked–when I am looking for the next bad thing to come, I am creating the bad thing. Not that I am creating the storm, but when I am in a moment of joy or of peace I am disrupting it with these thoughts of something going wrong. In that moment the struggle/suffering is coming when I am not present in the goodness and instead trying to control the outcome of something that I can’t even see or predict.
When we hold onto those thoughts that come through we are robbing ourselves of the joy that is in front of us.
Something will go wrong, something hard will come, again–we are human. Choosing to let that thought come and go, I am learning the power of goodness in the present.
Through these weeks of practicing, I am noticing that I am far less anxious. I am more resilient when challenges arise. I am more present.
Driving by the coffee shop and noticing the big smile on a stranger’s face as she talks on the phone.
Seeing my friend Rohn from blocks away and the felt freedom of a bicycle.
Sitting on the edge of a rock with my Julian and watching the ocean waves on Spring Break.
In this wild world we live in, let’s stop looking for struggle, my goodness it will come on its own. Instead, I invite you to join me in being present for the good whenever it arises and for however long it lasts.
May we have the courage to be human in all of its beauty and complexity…and enjoy whatever periods of grace we can.
Love-Jess
This Week
March 25th - April 2nd, Betty’s Co. Mobile Health Clinic on Campus
Friday, March 28th, Sunset Terrell Heights Neighborhood Association Family Movie Night, Charis Park
Saturday, March 29th
9 AM - 1 PM, Sunset Ridge Farmers Market
11:30 AM - 1:30 PM, Watercolor Wellness Workshop, SOLD OUT, Room 207
Coming Up…
Every Saturday, Sunset Ridge Farmers Market, Charis Park
Second Saturday, April 12th, Charis Park
Event Rentals - Interested in hosting your event at Charis Park or in our facilities? We are currently booking for 2025–please email rentals@sunset-ridge.org
Community Partners: For updated schedules and events please follow One Another Coffee, Sunset Ridge Farmers Market, NYX Wellness, Scott’s Pizza, Mission Compost, Sprouts School, Good Acres, Community First Food Pantry, and Betty’s Co.
Inhale: Help me let go of the fear of the future and the swirling thoughts of anxiety.
Exhale: Let me be present here in the peace and the goodness.
