Therese: My vision is of a beautiful rose garden with myriad pathways meandering between multicolored roses in hues of pink, red, yellow, peach, and mauve. The garden path I choose leads me to a still pond. There, sitting by the pond, Mother Mary smiles at me. She invites all who desire to sit with her awhile.

Mother Mary: Welcome to this rose garden of unconditional love. Allow self-love to be your guide moving into this year of 2021. Many stories and situations of contrast — light and dark, love and fear — will continue in the external world. You live in the maelstrom of these shifting and changing paradigms, and self-care and looking after your personal well-being will support you when you engage with the external world. When you support yourself with self-love, more energy and life force flow through your body to engage in the daily responsibilities of your life.

Notice your internal thoughts. When your spirit came into this physical body, you came into communion with your body, mind, and spirit. All three aspects are important. The body, mind, and spirit are like a pyramid of three powerful aspects that make up the whole that is you. The mind has been extoled over the past years. Higher education has been the passport to employment and held up and honored by Western culture. But honing the logical mind has a shadow component, which is self-criticism. You learned to be critical of yourself, and you take in messages that you are not good enough in comparison to others.