hello beloveds.
this is the first of what i hope will be a seasonal offering from my heart to yours.
a way to stay connected season to season with ourselves, each other, our bodies and the land.
a way to be with what is actually true, moment by moment, breath by breath.
through reflections from nature and tarot, mindfulness practice and my owned lived experience, i hope to offer something useful to help you navigate the wild terrain of each moment you experience in a time when being present can be painful.
we are facing more and more individual and collective grief, fear, despair and longing for something different.
it can be overwhelming and scary. a bit too much to face, especially alone.
with the future more uncertain than ever, it's never been more important to learn how to make friends with the present.
the truth is, the future is made in the present moment.
how we care for ourselves and each other today has tremendous impact on how we will feel tomorrow.
we think of time in seconds and minutes, days and weeks and months. but, the only time that truly exists is the past, the present and the future and they are all three connected.
there is no separation between who we were, who we are, and who we are becoming. it’s a long thread without beginning or end.
the linear story we tell about birth and death leaves out the parts we don’t understand--where we were before and where we’ll be after.
that’s the mystery we hold loosely, the stuff of myths and storytellers.
the more we dwell in the here and now the more we realize each moment is a story in itself. a story to live with each breath, each intention and the action that follows.
bringing mindfulness into our daily lives requires patience and determination. most of us have habits that take us a way from ourselves. however, we can learn to cultivate habits that bring us home, to our bodies, to our breath, to the good ground beneath us.
there is no urgency in this kind of cultivation. its a slow process. much slower than our culture suggests is appropriate. we can move at the pace of nature which is always right on time, even as it adapts to a rapidly changing climate.
looking at what's right in front of you, what you know for sure, noticing the breath in your body, noticing your feet on the ground, these are all ways to ground in something real and lasting, even as everything changes.
the way things were is in the past. the way things will be is yet to be revealed. so what do we have? this moment. this breath. today's sunrise, tonight's sunset and everything that happens in between.
i'll meet you there, with my hand on my heart, leaning into discomfort and learning to become the refuge my beloveds need me to be in this place called here.