Today return makes me smile, a big happy smile.

It is the feeling of turning onto my street after a long trip, knowing that very soon I will be home. It is the feeling of coming home after a long summer away, filled with adventure, people and places, growth and discovery. It is the comfort and relief of knowing that I will sleep tonight in my own bed, on my own pillow, surrounded by familiar scents and sounds. It is coming back to a place where I feel safe and sound, loved and free to be me.

Today return is an eagerness to enter sacred space.

It is the happy last-minute rush towards a holiday season that I welcome with open arms. I am ready. No, I have not done everything on my high-holiday preparations list, but, yes, I am ready for the Gates of Awe to open, for my heart to open, for the work of laying my soul bare. This place or reckoning and renewal is a home itself, a beit teshuvah.

Today I am grateful for the chance at new beginnings. I am grateful to come home to the truth of who I am. I am grateful to return.

L’Shanah Tovah!

crabapples gathered today at Jacobs Farm

#BlogElul for 29 Elul 5773