06.30.2025. Flawed and Holy-Gorgeous
Hello dear Friends,
“Oh sweetheart,
you will be not only sing
the new song—a song
equal parts haunting and beautiful—
you will be the new song
and the silence that holds it.”
— Rosemary Wahtola Trommer
(read full poem here)
🌿
What is this impulse that drives our soul, that seeks to persevere? What are the things you wish your younger self would have known? For sure, how gorgeous you were! And how gorgeous you are. This, truly, would be the greatest miracle of all time—to know, deep in the well of our bones, the simple truth of our unbearable beauty, both flawed and holy-gorgeous, and so much more.
Yet, we humans are complex, tender souls. We often sliver off our most precious offerings to the world, keeping them safe, tucked away in a far-off corner of our hearts. But eventually, the wildness of awakening relentlessly knocks, begs us back into the world. And like in Mary Oliver's "The Journey"—perhaps one of her most beloved poems—we begin, in the long dark of life, calling ourselves back, excavating our gold.
So we begin. "We only know what we know," my meditation teacher would say, "But when we learn something different, we have an obligation to that hard-earned wisdom." One such obligation I'm learning about is our sacred duty: to pour gentle kindness and butter-soft compassion over our younger parts. Pour love into the great wounds of our broken hearts, love them back into form, and stitch them back into our being with thread made from the sacred silk of grace.
Sharing a writing prompt a beloved poet-teacher gave me as homework: to write love letters to my younger self. Perhaps this is kind medicine for your heart too—to love up your younger self with great tenderness and let her know this isn't the end of her story; she will “be the new song, haunting and beautiful.”
Join me Today–
Mindfulness of the Body & Metta Meditation Practice
All are welcome, no prior experience needed—just bring an open heart.
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM: Drop-in Meditation Practice
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM: Conversations on the Practice of Meditation
Location: 1765 Glenview Road, Glenview (in the Patio Shops)
Donations are gratefully accepted.
A bow of gratitude we are here together,
Wini
Scroll Below–2 poems, 3 quotes, 2 gorgeous closing songs, and goodness between. Made with ♥️.
💌 Know someone who needs a little goodness for their heart? Please share! If this was forwarded to you, subscribe for your own copy
🌸 Two Poems to Share
Unbroken | Rashani Réa
The Unbroken
There is a brokenness
out of which comes the unbroken,
a shatteredness
out of which blooms the unshatterable.
There is a sorrow
beyond all grief which leads to joy
and a fragility
out of whose depths emerges strength.
There is a hollow space
too vast for words
through which we pass with each loss,
out of whose darkness
we are sanctioned into being.
There is a cry deeper than all sound
whose serrated edges cut the heart
as we break open to the place inside
which is unbreakable and whole,
while learning to sing.
Where the Light Begins | Jan Richardson
Perhaps we
will turn our face
toward it,
toward what has been
always.
Perhaps our eyes
eyes will finally open
in ancient recognition,
willingly dazzled,
illuminated at last.
Perhaps this day
the light begins
in us.
🌸 Three Quotes | Hafez. Belden C. Lane. Etty Hillesum. Melinda Gates.
“Now that your worry has proved such an unlucrative business, Why not find a better job?”
― Hafez, The Poetry Pharmacy Returns
“The practice of paying attention is the rarest of gifts because it depends upon the harshest of disciplines. So uncommon is it for us to grasp the beauty and mystery of ordinary things that, when we finally do so, it often brings us to the verge of tears. Appalled by our own poverty, we awake in wonder to a splendor of which we had never dreamed.”
— Belden C. Lane, THE SOLACE OF FIERCE LANDSCAPES
🎶 Listen. Give a watch: A conversation with Belden Lane, (1:04:04 min) a wisdom figure of the 21st Century who converses with beauty, with trees, with grief, with the rough play of God, with the solitude-contemplative life.
“Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.” —Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
🌿 If you haven't read "When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times" by Pema Chödrön, or even if you have, it's an excellent book to revisit. Drawing deeply from Buddhist wisdom tradition, it offers profound goodness, heart guidance, revealing the strange wonder of this world.
Pema teaches that things will inevitably fall apart and come back together. She illuminates how healing blooms from befriending ourselves and others—the root of true compassion—along with mindfulness and the courage to embrace the "groundlessness" of this wonderful and tumbling existence.
“We don’t set out to save the world; we set out to wonder how other people are doing and to reflect on how our actions affect other people’s hearts.”
🌿
🌸 Good Things To Know About | “Oh MY, Goodness, Gorgeousness!”
✨ Oh, my! It's finally here! Three years in the making and a lifetime of blooming required to birth it: Midlife Upgrade: A Girlfriend's Guide to Finding Your Power in the Pause by Julie Fedeli (a dear "move a dead body" friend and a dear traveling lifetimes-as-souls-together friend) and co-author Pamela DeRose. What a great adventure, and what a blessing it is to see two fierce women on a mission to uplift other women and help them bloom their beauty! Learn more about Julie and Pam.
✨ Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer will be here in Chicago on Saturday, September 27, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. This event is open to all women and men—all seekers, meditators, tender-hearted souls, poets, writers, revolutionaries, and light workers. Please join me and Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer for a one-day retreat at Valley Lo Club in Glenview, IL. ✍️ Put your name on the list here.
✨ A Sacred Pause for Women: Join Wini for a soul-nourishing retreat from September 11-14th at Soulful Prairie in Woodstock, IL (70 minutes north of Chicago). This exclusive weekend, limited to just 10-12 women, promises deep reconnection with your inner wisdom. Experience the unique Equine Gestalt on Saturday morning. Space is very limited! Sign up for early access and all details on the priority list here.
“I'm weaving a dream: birthing a sacred weekend retreat for a small circle of women.
It's a precious pause for soulful replenishment, slow unfolding, and holy time, practicing kind heart, kind step.”
—Wini
✨ Last Healing Vessel at the Patio Shops! Yes, it's true: I'll need to relocate my office and meditation space by August 31st. If you know of a gorgeous new space, please let me know!
If you'd like to attend the final Healing Vessel at this location (for now, until I find a new space), please let Gina know. As you know, it fills up fast and space is limited. I'll be finalizing the date soon.
🌸 Two Closing Songs 🎶 | A Beloved Piece by Erik Satie & "Follow the Sun" by Xavier Rudd - both magic, both JOY✨
A timeless beauty for the heart, a quiet refuge: Erik Satie's "Gymnopédie No. 1." (3:25 min) It's slow, sparse, and as spacious as the unfolding dawn sky, offering a soft-stillness that opens the pathway to vast inner solitude. Originally composed for piano in 1888, this minimalist work has captivated listeners with its hauntingly simple and deeply moving melody.
This live performance “Follow the Sun”(4:47 min) - sparks love, heart and joy–who does not need that in today's climate — let it ignite in your heart, the audience, the words, the inhalation of sheer joy. “…And what does your heart say?”
Lyrics:
“Breath, breath in the air
Set your intentions
Dream with care
Tomorrow is a new day for everyone…
“Breathe. Open. Soften. Let-go”
– first mantra given to me by my meditation teacher
🌿
In Mystical traditions, it is a great practice to offer chants and prayers of blessing and protection.
"May you take refuge in quiet and let your burdens go—one by one—until you know deep in your bones that
you are held in the Vast Holy Silence.
May you abide in Silence, resting into the Holy's landscape of warmth and care,
guiding and protecting you.
May you love this world as it is—complicated, troubled, full of beauty and terror,
blooming from forgiving soft ash.
May all beings be safe and protected."
Have a blessed day,
Love, Wini 💖
🌸 Share & Support Metta
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✨ may we bloom more Light together.
💞 may we grow more Goodness for the healing of all
🌎 may we stitch more heart-tenderness into the fabric of our planet.
*Venmo : https://venmo.com/u/Winifred-Nimrod
Zelle: wininim@gmail.com or 847.312.9313
….Until next week. 💖 ✨
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.
- Mary Oliver
