January | 2016 | Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray)

image by David Mao, from Unsplash

This morning I am contemplating something Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa said, “If you can hold the pain of the world in your heart but never forget the vastness of the great eastern sun, then you can make a proper cup of tea.” It means that if you can know in your bones, hold in your heart the reality that you are going to be uncomfortable, bad things will happen, and suffering is real, but also remember that babies are born, spring comes after winter, flowers bloom, art happens, music exists, there is chocolate and clean water and puppies and love, there is also comfort — if you can hold the pain and remember the magic, you can keep going, you can do what you need to do, you can be content, you won’t give up.

1. Salted Caramel Decaf Latte, using homemade caramel sauce and one of the mugs my brother and nieces gave us for Christmas.

2. Wild Writing, and being reminded of this video, my favorite moment from Nurse Jackie.

3. Sunny, warm days before more snow. Sunday and Monday we might be getting a bunch of snow, but today and tomorrow it’s supposed to be sunny and almost 60 degrees.

4. Ringo Blue. I took him to the vet last week. He hadn’t been in almost a year, so I wasn’t sure how he’d do. He was so good! And when we were alone in the room, waiting, he lay down and went to sleep, just like Dexter used to do.

Ringo venting, lying against a heating vent in the kitchen, one of his favorite spots.

5. A boss who sends me nice emails that say things like this thing you made is “so stunning” and “I love working with you.”

Bonus joy: the way the dogs were howling at another dog walking down our street this morning (I still don’t know why they howled, they usually don’t do that about anything, but it was so cute!), being able to go in late, yoga, teaching yoga, caramel, sweet potatoes, clean water, wool socks, clean sheets, a hot shower, new fluffy towels, a 4.5 mile walk, seeing a mink hunting at the edge of the river, pay day, paying bills, clean laundry, baking, taking off my bra at the end of a long day.