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Stunning as always Jane ❤️

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Thanks, Mary! And thank you for helping me along the way!

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Such wonderful vulnerability, Jane. I'm 86% Irish, I understand ancestral trauma, it never goes away. As you, I experienced cranial sacral therapy and found the part of my body that held the trauma, my throat, accounting for the years I never spoke up or had an opinion. Thank you for your beautiful words.

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Oh, Trish, thank you for your beautiful words! They mean so much. And, yes, the throat chakra! Same!

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Jan 26, 2023Liked by Jane Ratcliffe

OMG- your writing takes my breath away, Jane. What an exquisite (and educational!) piece.

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Thank you Oritte! I was concerned no one was going to read it because it's long. So it's lovely to start the day with your uplifting comment!

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This beautiful essay has given me a lot to think about. I often feel that loneliness, even when the external circumstances don’t seem to warrant it, and it’s a comfort to think about it being a seed from long ago it makes sense.

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Oh, thank you, Angie! That means so much. Yes, the actual seed not belonging to us definitely provides a new lens. One I'm finding helpful. I hope it helps you, too!

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I jus LOVED this piece, Jane. The writing was elegant and the ideas refreshing. Loved it. Thank you for publishing it.

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Thank you so much, Alle! I was a little nervous to share it.

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I really love this complex braided essay, with your current life and pets, your father over the years, the war years in the old country, the concept of inherited loneliness, and surviving a serious head injury all included. I envy you having a loving father, just as your mother had a loving father. Surely that's also in the genes? My favorite part was how lying on the ground even in winter helped stabilize you. When I'm walking in the forest with my dog every day on familiar paths, I want to lie down but almost never give myself permission. You've inspired me to grant myself that healing too. Thank you.

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Thank you, Kirie! Your kind words mean so much! And, yes, I do believe love and kindness and joy can be inherited. I hope to write on that one day!! I know that feeling so well of wanting to lie down in the woods! If your dog will let you, I encourage you to do it!! It helps me like nothing else. And it would be so extra potent in the forest! ❤️

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Feb 3, 2023Liked by Jane Ratcliffe

Jane, you put so beautifully into words many feelings that I recognize. And I always really love the way you tell you’re mum and dads journey with such understanding. Love you xx

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Thank you, Lorna! ❤️

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Jan 28, 2023Liked by Jane Ratcliffe

I loved learning so much about you, and about loneliness. Thank you Jane!

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Aw, thanks, Anne!

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So lovely, Jane!

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Thank you, Sari!

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Jan 26, 2023Liked by Jane Ratcliffe

This is just beautiful.

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Thank you so much!

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Jan 26, 2023Liked by Jane Ratcliffe

Beautiful. So affirming of what we so easily (and wrongly) presume to be a negative.

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Thank you for your kind words, Virginia. And, yes, you're absolutely right. This new perspective has changed my relationship with myself and many in my life.

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Jan 26, 2023Liked by Jane Ratcliffe

Beautiful. <3

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Thanks so much, Erin!

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Jan 26, 2023Liked by Jane Ratcliffe

Thank you for this. It really resonated with me.

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Thank you for reading it, Sara! I'm glad it resonated.

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You are a gift ~ gifted with words that settle in me as you, paint your Mother your Father your garden your pets Delilah and Rudy all a part of me now. Only gratitude you share your marrow without picking at the bones , instead observing holding them close and loving them.

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Oooooh, Rochelle! Thank you for your beautiful words. They mean so much! And thank you for becoming a founding subscriber! Your ongoing faith in me means the world!

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If I had known how long this is, I wouldn’t have started my day with your original and powerful piece, which clearly rises from years of reflection and research. I particularly liked your evocation of your parents’ formative wartime years. I don’t read many essays that invite me to consider my own and my family’s experience differently, as yours has done this morning. I have thought and written plenty about these things, yet there is more to discover, more to say.

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Thank you for reading it, Rona, and for your kind words! It is long! And, yes, there is always more to discover with our families.

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Jan 26, 2023Liked by Jane Ratcliffe

Love this so much. It's stunning.

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Thank you so much!

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