It was nine years ago, this week that an extraordinary soul opened the pages of this Journal and invited caregivers from all around the world to enter in. Here in this space, he offers us refuge from the fast pace to rest a while and to replenish our spirits.

We celebrate the labor of love that Erie Chapman has freely offered throughout this decade by gifting us with his exquisite images of Beauty, prose, storytelling, poetry and wisdom. He has opened sacred pathways of seeing that acknowledges caregiving as an art that intertwines with science.  

Erie breathes life into healthcare with his visionary leadership and tireless efforts to cultivate Radical Loving Care. He recognizes that Love is the true means of healing. He mentors and encourages each of us to respond to the call, fall in love with our work and to approach caregiving
with a Servant’s Heart.

At times he has challenged our assumptions and shook us free from complacency. He can stretch us beyond our comfort zone and emboldens us to become our better selves. Erie has shared personal experiences with a poignancy that only one living with chronic illness can understand. He reminds us of the vulnerabilities that accompany illness and teaches above all else to love deeply through his love of caregivers. And in this precious companionship together, our journey has led to an alchemy. For we know cannot go back, nor we would we want to, because our lives are inexplicably changed forever.

John O’ Donohue describes an Anam Cara experience, which “opens a friendship that is not wounded or limited by separation or distance. Such friendship can remain alive even when the friends live far away from each other. Because they have broken through the barriers of persona and egoism to the soul level, the unity of their souls is not easily severed. When the soul is awakened, physical space is transfigured. Even across the distance friends can stay attuned to each other’s lives.”

Thank you dear Anam Cara friends. To give is to receive and so we are blessed tenfold by your presence, for without you this Journal could not continue. We are grateful to those who remain invisible, yet your presence is equally affirming. The handful of people who comment, you enliven these pages in a way that enriches the experience for all. We have come to witness time and again how expansive love really is.

Thank you for your blessings and gratitude to Erie Chapman for inspiring us to live “Love, not fear.”

Liz Sorensen Wessel

Photos: #1 Sanctuary & #3 Guatemala by ~liz;  #2 Self Portrait by Erie Chapman

Bless the Space between Us (title of book by John O'Donohue)