In Awe of Our Humanness

Today, I am in awe of the human beings who allow me to accompany them on a small part of their journey. Many of them I will never see in person- we meet via phone or skype- but every single one teaches me something about human courage, resilience, and tenderness. We are very small, and brief and biodegradable- but our capacity to learn, to love, to be kind and generous and unafraid even after injury, even in the face of the unknowable, takes my breath away, deepens my faith that on some profound level of being, all is well and all will be well. What we do matters- although rarely in the way we think it does when fear has us by the throat and we are desperately trying to assert control over inner and outer worlds. But our willingness. . . our ability to get up after the night of grief and despair. . . to take another breath when we feel broken. . . is met and supported by something sacred and larger of which we are made. I am humbled that these ordinary extraordinary human beings let me walk awhile with them. ~Oriah I went looking for pic that reflects the awe I am feeling and this came up- another beauty from Karen Davis at Open Door Dreaming.

Jack-Hammering Practice

Had a late start this morning and was moving slowly. Five minutes into my meditation practice the jackhammering on my building started, right above my head. (Honestly, it felt they were jackhammering in my head!) My ear plugs and noise-cancelling headphones make little difference as the vibration moves through the concrete and into my bones.

Construction work is a lot like life: largely unpredictable and beyond my control.

So, I decided to see what it would be like to meditate while they were jackhammering. I won't lie- it's not ideal. But as I relaxed my body where I was unconsciously (and impossibly) trying to pull away from or resist the noise, I realized I could still be aware of my breath, could quiet my inner protests, could be with what is in this moment.

As I finished my meditation I thought about people in California and Puerto Rico dealing with fires and floods, and focused on sending prayers that they may feel held in love. And those prayers slid into prayers of gratitude for my home, and prayers for the construction workers using the jackhammers (can you imagine what that kind of work does to the human body?)

And the jackhammering continues.

I will go out today to seek a quiet place to do some writing. But I am grateful for this morning. Life will have its way with us. Sometimes we can and need to create changes. And sometimes we have to continue with what sustains us, even when conditions are not ideal. ~Oriah

This is the photo Karen Davis posted today at Open Door Dreaming. Good to remember that even when there is disruption in one place, there is quiet beauty in another.

Loving What We Do

Woke up this morning with the sound of a woman's voice following me up out of dreams. She said- "Do something you love today. . . . or love something you do. This feeds the soul of the world."

I have been sitting with these words as I see photos of some homes burnt to the ground in California and others flooded with water and leveled by wind in Puerto Rico. I will pray for those impacted, and send resources to help.

And I will do something I love today- I will love something I do- which is to say, I will bring my full attention to the moment and savor the sweetness of reading or writing or walking in the park.

Individually we are small, and brief, and highly biodegradable. Humanity's strength has always been found in community. There are people scrambling to evacuate, or find clean drinking water, or fight a blazing fire today. I can send prayers and monetary help, and I can participate in communal action to prepare for and prevent these tragedies where possible.

The voice in the dream suggests something more- suggests that moments of loving what we are doing, tasting the sweetness of this day, offers something to the collective consciousness, feeds the soul of the world that somewhere, every day, faces challenges. It seems like a small thing to ask. And there really is no down side to loving what we do- although I admit, it might make us question some of what we do on any given day.

I suppose you could call consciously loving the moment a prayer, a way to add a drop of that which sustains us all to the collective consciousness we share. ~Oriah

Came across this photo from Karen Davis at Open Door Dreaming. Her eye for beauty, ability to photograph it and willingness to share it with us is just one way to add to loving the world.