In today’s August Break prompt, Vivienne McMaster suggested,

I’d love to invite you to take a selfie today, in which you settle into your self. How does it feel in your body today? What is weighing heavy on your heart or what is making you smile today? What could you most use to hear today? Let’s put a hand to our heart, close our eyes, get quiet for a moment and tell ourselves that.

I didn’t want to take a selfie today. I’ve been fussing about it ever since I checked early this morning to see what was scheduled for today. I held my phone up to my face right away, but I looked so tired and the light was all wrong, so I decided to wait. I told myself to go to yoga first, shower first, read the email Susannah would send with the prompt first. Later I bargained with myself that I could just use one that I’d taken already, like maybe the one Eric liked so much, the one where he said “You should use this as your blog and profile picture. This is a beautiful pic. Seriously.”

Finally, I just decided to get it over with. I went into my meditation room, sat on the spot on the couch where Ringo has been curling up and napping in the morning, and did just what Vivienne suggested. I closed my eyes, put my hand to my heart, and told myself I didn’t need to try so hard. And this is the picture I took: tired, tender, unwashed, and unfiltered.

Today is lit up. Today is another chance to begin again. Today is walking the same path on a different day, the same but also completely different. Today is about letting go of everything but this moment. Today is time to practice, and time to rest. Today is the birthday of someone I love and someone else I love is dying. Today is an opportunity to start over, to come back, to stay, to surrender. Today is every tomorrow and all the yesterdays. Today is all there ever will be, all there ever was. Today is vast open space. Today is an invitation. Today is a prayer. Today is today, not yesterday or tomorrow or next week. Today is Thursday. Today is mine, and yet it doesn’t belong to me. Today is my to-do list. Today is the wild unknown.