Tag: living

This Balance of Courage.

The ritual of our mindfulness practice teaches us patience. Though, even more so, it demonstrate the need for a ‘balanced hand’ – fairness within a building turmoil, equanimity where injustice refuses to bend.

As practitioners, we are encouraged to cultivate peace within our hearts; to lend softness against formerly immutable edges. Though, how do we accomplish when our path is uncertain? How do we offer light as our own diminishes?

Do we abandon the entirety of our principles for the one that feels threatened? Can you imagine our world had ideology conceded to gentle wavering?

There’d be no Rosa Parks, nor Mahatma Ghandi – the legacy of their journey forever lost, rescinded under the weight of a looming doubt. How might we be enriched were it not for their struggle?

If anything, our insights and our actions must go together. We must strive to create our bonds through shared understanding. And knowing, in the end, that “we are all just walking each other home.”

A lasting peace can not be realized through the absence of pain. Rather, it must be forged by way of opportunity and courage.

In peace…

Namaste ❣️

On What We Become.

I passed a family laying a wreath at the roadside this morning; a young soldier on his way home for the day was killed by an oncoming driver. The tire tracks marking the car’s final attempt still fresh up the pavements edge. An older woman kneeled and wept (I presume she may have been the Mother).

There’s a beauty, oddly, even amidst these dire circumstances – this outpouring of love in the midst of crisis, a family joined through impermeable bonds. In this moment, nothing masked the honesty of their emotions.

It’s one of the more delicate certainties of being human.

We are born, we live, we die…and, somewhere in between, the soul awakens. No matter how well we live, the efforts we take towards balance and harmony – we can not escape our own ‘becoming’.

I remember the night my son was born; watching him alone in the bassinet, I was suddenly quite fearful. How could I protect this innocent soul through life? Losing him was my greatest worry. But then one day I realized, I wanted him to know.

I wanted him to know the taste of rain in the air following a heavy storm; the joy of a puddle splashing up his backside during a hot summer’s day. I wanted him to flip over rocks and capture salamanders with his bare hands. To know the taste of salt dripping from his sweat-soaked skin.

And, even though there might be pain – I wanted him to know what it meant to be adored through another’s eyes.

I’m not sure why, though the sight of this family helped to carry this lesson home.

“Our individual life is an expression of the whole mystery,” writes Jack Kornfield, “and in it we can rest in the center of the movement, the center of all worlds.”

In the center of all worlds, we stand alone – raw and unobscured. In the end, we become what we’ve lived.

I stopped to offer my condolences, of course. “Thank you,” she said, not realizing how this young man’s life continued to share.

In peace…

Namaste ❤️

A Star in Human Form.

You are a divine being, my loves – no more, no less. Manifested from the dawn of an impenetrable light, powerful beyond all measure of word.

A child of this universe – born of a chaos finding its order, stardust charged with humanity’s continuance.

You are the source of that which is ‘good and right’. The song of the sparrow, the taking of flight.

Higher and higher, to ultimately prevail – this spirit shall to take on new realms.

We are particulates colliding, oh yes – but, so much more. We are the creation of ‘star’ in human form.

In peace…

Namaste ❤️

Where Do We Find Our Joy?

If all we have is now, my loves – then, tell me…where is joy realized?

Is it maintained within the burden of past; the lingering of hurt within the sting? Does it lay, helpless – vanquished by the promise of tomorrow, and the lessening of hope within?

Or, is it right here before our eyes? In this moment, right now? Displaced only by the energy of wanting, and the necessity to ‘get it all right’?

The truth is, though we all wish to be ‘be’ happy – very few know the path to realize joy. Our minds are continuously racing, failing at our attempts to calculate the ‘steps’ from suffering to bliss. We lose ourselves in the process of doing; we fail to understand the blessing gifted.

As a result, this present moment becomes nothing more than a means to an end; a catalyst to an unyielding sorrow.

“If only…”

Oh, my darlings – how often have we uttered these words; hopeful for a simple change of condition, a relief through Fate’s gracious hand?

Strive, strive, strive…do, do, do…with never a moment to rest.

If only we might recognize the treasure before us, waiting like gold beneath our feet.

My darlings, if all we have is now – then, tell me… where does joy our manifest?

A little something to consider, my friends…

In peace…

Namaste <3

This Boundlessness Within.

Did you know, my loves?

All of life is merely illusion; mired in the roots of past experience, and based on our capacity to understand.

These passing ‘imperfections’ are the glory, can’t you see? The majesty of burnished cloud, the curiosity of speckled egg.

All embraced within a single self-knowing; arising through these boundaries of possibility.

We are here to stand ‘as witness’, my loves — to the boundlessness of spirit within.

A little something to remember, wouldn’t you agree?

In peace…

Namaste ❤️

This Space Between.

Ram Dass once spoke of two types of fear associated with change.

The first is that of clinging. Like a climber ascending the face of a mountain – reaching for, and having faith, in that very next hold. We must let go in order to rise. Though all too often, there is a sense of urgency – to grasp that which is already known.

The second is that of longing; of leaving behind the expansiveness of ‘view.’ As the climber descends, he or she may experience a sense of loss and limitation; reinforced through their self-made fortifications.

It’s a perfect analogy to describe our own ‘ascension’. As we drift between these planes of consciousness, we begin to discover our own self-truth.

And in that process, we may experience fear, sadness and regret – as the boundaries of this human form are shattered to accommodate this knowing of who we might come to be.

Though, we alone must make that choice; to sit idly by or reach for freedom.

A little something to consider, my loves ~

In peace…

Namaste ❤️

A Little Something on Courage.

I read something this morning, my loves ~ from poet, Jalāl ad-Dīn Rūmī.

“You are the honored guest. Do not weep like a beggar for pieces of this world.”

I sat for a moment to absorb the essence of his words; to understand the simplicity of this message.

That life is not for the feint of heart, my loves. And, we must find courage enough to truly live.

‘Carpe Diem’, they like to say; seize the day. Though, how often do you catch yourself holding back? Questioning the reasonability or practicality of moving forward? Or, worse yet – second guessing that innate inner wisdom?

Do not stand there and weep, my friends. Though, if you must – shed those tears for the moments missed.

And, then?

Cast aside those ‘wish I hads’ and in that space simply

Live…live…live…

In peace…

Namaste ❤️

Lifting the Veil.

I had the privilege of attending to a hospice recently.

At first I wondered what to say, how to act. I worried my emotion might wear through the facade of ‘hoping to be strong.’ I thought of everything I had ever wished to say, and hoped these moments might prove enough.

There’s a stillness that washes over in our final hours; a peace unlike any we’ve ever known. We realize the lightness of the air surrounding, and the heaviness of that which we’ve carried far too long.

I thought of all time spent wasted — thoughts engaged in matters with no real end. The mind is inherently restless, and yet — it begs for a lasting peace.

I thought I’d be overwhelmed with sadness. I thought my heart might shatter into pieces. Though, in that final resting space something extraordinary occurred.

Connection.

Death lifts the veil of distraction. It forces us to look beyond the limited scale of our own human thought. It begs our acceptance.

That which was once a ceaseless roar finally finds its respite.

Perhaps death is a reminder of our impermanence, and nothing more? Or, perhaps it is our greatest lesson yet?

That is, to release ourselves from unnecessary attachments in order to engage this life just as it is.

“Stop being so afraid,” she begged.

“I promise,” I whispered. “Pinky swear.”

In peace, my loves ~

Namaste ❤️

This Path of Destiny.

There are those who’ll view this life by circumstance. Others, through the delicate weaving of Fate’s nimble hands.

While even more become mired in the depths of ‘not ever knowing’; spending the rest of every moment seeking sound reason.

But, the truth is – this life is what we make it do be. A joy, a sorrow, a fleeting bit of happenstance… all created from the genesis of ‘soul’; an intermingling of will and ‘what might happen next.’

Our pain exists only through the denial of this irrefutable truth – that we alone determine our path. That we mustn’t ever accept another’s ‘reality’ as our own.

As I watch the snow drifts twirl and pitch, I think of all those moments I’ve felt lost on the journey to discover my truth.

I think of the bloated candor of another’s best guesstimation. I remind them of my purpose, and my capacity to rise above.

The truth is, our destiny is defined by an unfolding of moments – through which heart engages will in a mastery of courage.

“Everyday, God gives us the sun,” writes Paolo Coelho. “And also one moment in which we have ability to change everything that makes us unhappy.”

The trick is, to always pay attention, my loves – to even that which appears, at first, seemingly inconsequential.

That we may one day discover our own ‘magic moment’, and through that moment change the course of destiny.

Learning to Not Ever Wait.

We lead such brief, temporary lives, my loves.

In a flickering of an instant, moments disappear to days, while days fall helplessly into weeks.

And yet, with each new day we begin again—with the same sense of hope, the same sense of heart, the same sense of  willingness.

Though, how easily this disposition is exchanged; while hardly ever pausing a moment to consider the overall context of our being.

I remember as a child, my days were filled with such possibility. I could spend hours contemplating life through the woodlands. Or, tracing all of history through the delicate veins of a curled up maple leaf.

In those days, life was measured by moments—pockets of fearless exploration, peppered with the potential of new discovery. Why, anything else would be considered a chore.

“Your attention is precious,” shares author Jonathon Harris “Don’t squander it. Don’t throw it away. In life, you will become known for doing what you do. Don’t wait. There is no other way.”

Indeed, don’t ever wait, my loves. For, time is far too precious an exchange.

And, this is your only precious human life—so, stop messing about, now go live it.

Much love, my dearest darlings ~ and here’s to each moment of our day.