Bryony Wildblood - Southsea Soul Work

13/06/2022

I started work as a Spiritual Care Chaplain at the Rowans Hospice last week, so this felt like a timely opportunity to reflect on my ministry and what it means to me, as I moved into a new rhythm with it all!

And a reminder that I need some more 'professional headshots' 😂

Minister Spotlight: Bryony Name : Bryony Wildblood Year of ordination/graduation: 2016 Tell us a little bit about yourself: I live in Portsmouth with my husband and two boys. Since becoming an interfaith minister, I have led over 100 funerals, as well as weddings and baby blessings. I

12/05/2022

"Thank you so much for organising us - it would never have happened otherwise!"

It was lovely to receive this hand-printed card from the baby blessing I led last week, including these words of thanks. One of the things the family really appreciated was having someone to organise them - and it made me realise what a valuable part of my role this is.

It's easy to focus on the ceremony itself, but actually a huge part of that is in the guidance, preparation, holding and organising that goes on beforehand.

Perhaps this seems obvious, put like that. But as a parent of young children myself, I'm very aware of how much organisation it takes to simply get out of the door on an ordinary day - let alone arranging a ceremony, celebration and food for folks, generally when you're sleep-deprived!

There are many reasons why naming ceremonies or baby blessings get overlooked, but I feel a big part of this is the planning and organising required - for many families with a new baby, or multiple young children, it can be a daunting task.

Which is why a good celebrant or minister can be so valuable - not just to lead the ceremony, but to guide, prepare, organise and hold you through the process in a gentle and conscious way... my job is to hone your intentions and wishes into something real and tangible.. to weave all the threads together into a beautiful tapestry.

I think family, friends and community also have a role to play in this, and they're often a significant part of why people choose to have a ceremony - but more on that next time!

11/05/2022

Got myself a new running buddy 🤩

06/05/2022

Excited to share my latest news - next month I will be joining the Spiritual Care Team at the Rowans Hospice as their new Assistant Chaplain.

I'm really delighted to be returning to Spiritual Care in a hospice setting, and grateful that flexible working will allow me to continue offering my Ceremonies and Soul Work... and even more deeply grateful that I get to do work that makes my heart sing.

Here's a photo of me looking delighted about a swim at Lulworth Cove last weekend.

04/05/2022

I'm still feeling so full of love after leading a Baby Blessing this weekend.

It was my first Baby Blessing since Lockdown began, and such a gorgeous reminder of how much joy, laughter, connection and love these ceremonies generate... as well as the inevitable mayhem, which seems to grow in direct relation to how many children are involved. But the chaos and unpredictability is part of the magic!

We sang songs together, shared readings from grandparents and promises from godparents, and everybody was invited to share their own words or pictures of blessing by decorating some hand-painted leaves, which we then strung across the room as bunting during the ceremony. Big brother and sister anointed their baby sister's hands, feet and crown with oil as we blessed her future and gave thanks for her life. But by far the best part - at least as far as the children were concerned - was planting the tree, and the opportunity to get our hands dirty.

As a final blessing, all the children threw rose petals into the air over the baby's head - her look of pure wonder and delight was beautiful!

In all the chaos and merriment, I completely failed to take any photos - but here is a photo of Koru as a babe, cradled by the tree fern that inspired his name.

31/03/2022

Covid has finally caught up with us... so we're making marmalade. Life and lemons and all that...

28/03/2022

Mother's Day swim... I'm not sure when something becomes a tradition, but I remember that my first swim after giving birth to Koru was on Mother's Day 2019.
I wore a full winter wetsuit because I was still so sensitive to the cold. It felt like a baptism, a renewal, a prayer... I was 6 months into being a mother.
And 'though I swim all year round, my Mother's Day Swim has the same feel of ritual and prayer... of coming home. Remembering... with thanks to Daddy Bear for the capture.

22/03/2022

Some beautiful feedback from a funeral service I lead a couple of weeks ago.

16/03/2022

People often say that the best way to engage a child is to get down to their level, to play from the floor.

So it felt completely natural to kneel on the floor of the crematorium chapel today, to kneel at the feet of the tiny coffin around which we gathered... speaking our thanks and goodbyes to a soul born too soon.

Little Snowdrop - Anon.

The world may never notice
If a Snowdrop doesn't bloom,
Or even pause to wonder
If the petals fall too soon.

But every life that ever forms,
Or ever comes to be,
Touches the world in some small way
For all eternity.

The little one we longed for
Was swiftly here and gone.
But the love that was then planted
Is a light that still shines on.

And though our arms are empty,
Our hearts know what to do.
For every beating of our hearts
Says that we love you

01/02/2022

Tuesday cheese-day 🤩 hurrah for February, blue skies and winter sun.

30/01/2022

When I walk out into the world, I take no thoughts with me. That’s not easy but you can learn to do it.
An empty mind is hungry, so you look at everything longer, and closer. Don’t hum! When you listen with empty ears, you hear more.
And this is the core of the secret: attention is the beginning of devotion ~ Mary Oliver

26/01/2022

Do not ask your children
to strive for extraordinary lives.
Such striving may seem admirable,
but it is the way of foolishness.
Help them instead to find the wonder
and the marvel of an ordinary life.
Show them the joy of tasting
tomatoes, apples and pears.
Show them how to cry
when pets and people die.
Show them the infinite pleasure
in the touch of a hand.
And make the ordinary come alive for them.
The extraordinary will take care of itself.

~ William Martin, 'The Parent's Tao Te Ching'

25/01/2022

Because I do not know
any medicine for grief
but to let ourselves
grieve.

Because I do not know
any cure for sorrow
but to let ourselves
sorrow.

Because I do not know
any remedy
but to let the heart break,
to let it fall open,
then to let it fall open
still more.

Because I do not know
how to mend
the unmendable,
unfixable,
unhealable wound
that keeps finding
itself healed
as we tend it,
as we follow
the line of it,
as we let it lead us
on the path
it knows.

Because I do not know
any solace
but to give ourselves
into the love
that will never cease
to find us,
that will never loose
its hold on us,
that will never abandon us
to the sorrow
for which it holds
the cure.

~ from 'The Cure for Sorrow' by Jan Richardson, for the days when we do not know... remembering it's OK not to know.

16/01/2022

Lovely words to close my week with... it always means so much to receive a message like this.

14/01/2022

I am relishing all this winter sun and couldn't resist the call of the sea this morning... nothing like an icy dip at sunrise to clear my head, ready for a day of writing funerals.

12/01/2022

Today I am grateful for:
☀️ The glorious sunshine
☀️ Having a flexible job which means I can arrange to visit my clients by bike, and enjoy a sunny 30km ride in the process
☀️ Spontaneous swims in the sea

21/12/2021

A quick reminder that the Christmas Candlelit Service is live on Facebook at 7pm tonight, from Ruby Funerals' page...

A quick reminder of the candlelight memorial service we're holding tomorrow, December 21st at 7pm. This will be live, here on Facebook, and if you would like the name of a loved one to be read out at the service and a candle lit in their memory, please leave details on this post or the pinned post at the top of the page ⭐️

18/12/2021

People often say to me, "I don't know how you do what you do..." Some days, I don't know either.
Yesterday's funeral was immensely difficult and heart-breaking, and I made it as far as my car before my own grief overwhelmed me. This single red rose, a token from the family, was my undoing, and I needed that. My car has held me through many times like this, a strange container for my heartache.
And so I am grateful for my capacity to grieve, for my willingness feel all the feelings, to let my heart keep breaking open. One thing I do know is that I couldn't do this work without it.