photo credit: Ravi Roshan
Dear Community,
As we approach the close of 2020 - a year that has been difficult, mysterious, and unusual for many of us - I invite you to take a moment to remember, reflect, and listen to the impulses that are present or emerging now.
:: What do you remember about Life, both lost and gained?
:: What challenges, growth or gift has shaken or awakened you in fundamental ways?
:: What seed or vision do you hold for yourself, your communities, this world?
Walk with the questions.
Dance to the questions.
Free write or draw or dream.
Nurture your wonder.
As I remember all those who have lost family or been distanced from loved ones, culture and community, I remember the grief, both held in isolation and within the embrace of communal nurturing. I remember the radical return of compassion, and the power of holding one another in loving kindness and care. While some have recovered the gift of resilience or come to know first hand the balm of connection, others have lived (and continue to live) with the task of integrating great loss, isolation and suffering. Today I bow to the many facets of our hearts, the tendrils of life being tended, and the rays of hope being enlivened in the midst of strife, illness, hardship, and the ever-present Unknown.
Photo Credit: @processingly
Through it all, I keep asking the question:
What is most Life Serving now?
I wonder.
Wait.
Listen to my body breathing.
Subtle sensations arise then fall away.
Images come and go.
I think of you. And I think of me.
Sometimes it's hard to separate the two. I know that our interconnectedness links my existence to yours, and that my personal experience of well-being, belonging, and meaning is also related in some way to each of you. How you're doing really matters…what you dream into being touches my own.
And while I may not see or sense the full essence of the seed that wants to serve life now, I can feel how nurturance, loving kindness, compassion, and enjoyment are integral voices within this song. They sing a balm to all Life around us, and support the strength and clarity we need to envision a way forward that is in harmony and service to Life!
“What you do for yourself, any gesture of kindness, any gesture of gentleness, any gesture of honesty and clear seeing toward yourself, will affect how you experience your world. In fact, it will transform how you experience the world. What you do for yourself, you’re doing for others, and what you do for others, you’re doing for yourself.”
A practice to evoke loving kindness:
Call to mind someone you care about. See them surrounded by beauty, at ease and in harmony with their environment. See them with whatever quality you wish for them…at peace, nourished, happy, with good health. Notice how your body responds through sensation, image, emotion. Allow yourself to fully feel the emotional qualities that are present. “What you do for others, you’re doing for yourself.“ Continue to extend this loving kindness while receiving the goodness in return.