Every time I grow and expand capacity into new terrain, “what was” dissolves into the embrace of “what is”. And while I’ve traversed this terrain before, I am still practicing how to yield to the vulnerability required…to surrender all maps with their familiar reference points, destinations and paths home.

These times are an initiation into the unknown and many of us will, if we haven’t already, come into contact with hard truths. Some may arise in our environments while others arise from within. In many ways, we are (re) learning how to Dance with Shadows.

Though we will certainly experience moments of stress in these times, we can turn toward our practices to help us find our way. We can turn to one another to have faith in our inter- connectedness,to trust the heart’s ceaseless capacity to care and respond.

Soul demands our full participation with ALL of Life...initiates through beauty AND pain...traverses the glorious, messy, wild and difficult...sometimes all within one dance. If we can stay with our present tense experience and offer our breath, gesture, and sound to the landscape emerging, we can weave each thread of our experience into the great tapestry of wholeness. Soul longs for this...for wholeness, not perfection.

The practice of surrender may seem simple on the surface, yet for me it's one of the more challenging aspects of life. Whether I’m cultivating a dream, or persistently and diligently tending something I am passionate about, the more invested and close to my heart the endeavor, the more attached I seem to be.