Category Archives: Love

Gratitude Friday

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This post is a mashup of The Little Bliss List and Joy Jam, and as such is meant to celebrate: the little things that brought me hope and happiness this week, the sweet stuff of life, those small gifts that brought me joy this week. By sharing them, I not only make public my gratitude, but maybe also help you notice your own good stuff and send some positive energy out into the world.

1. Fall. I know, I can’t stop talking about it, but I love Fall in Colorado–cool temperatures, the golden light, the green turning to yellow, red, and brown. I long during this season to stay outside, to take longer and longer walks, to sink into the tempo, the slowing down this season brings.

2. Fellow bloggers, who are also the kindest and gentlest of readers. Erica Staab and Sherry Belul and Sunni Chapman, who all offered me such pure comfort and genuine kindess this week.

3. So many good books. Right now, I’m reading Tammy Strobel’s You Can Buy Happiness (and It’s Cheap) and Christine Rosalie’s A Field Guide to Now, and next I’ll read Brene’ Brown’s Daring Greatly and Elizabeth Lesser’s Broken Open. And I’ll keep working my way down this pile, with Pema Chödrön’s new book and Erica Staab’s The In-Between on their way to be added to the stack. So many good books…

4. Self-Care, a warm shower or a nap or exactly what I want to eat for breakfast–a commitment to maintaining my awareness of my needs, being curious, having the intention to provide what I need, what I want, what would make me happy or give me comfort or make me laugh or feel good. To be able to finally do this for myself in the way I’ve always been able to do it for others makes me so grateful.

5. New music. Yesterday, I listened all day to Greg Laswell, (thanks to this post by Judy Clement Wall on Zebra Sounds) and today it’s Meg Hutchinson, (thanks to this post by Jen Lee).

Bonus Joy: Love notes from Eric. My heart fills until it almost hurts with the comfort and joy that these tiny slips of paper give me.

Three Truths and One Wish

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1. Truth: “Fear is the cage, and love is the key.” I can’t find the origin of this quote to be able to credit it to anyone, but maybe that’s appropriate–it’s so universally true that every wise and kind being (i.e. all of us, eventually), every being that’s ever lived long enough to know pain and loss, to be confused and generate our own suffering has known this to be true. Fear is like metal bars, chains, a dark room with thick walls and a locked door, the razor teeth of a crazed wild animal, something sharp and strong that traps you in its grip, no matter how hard you struggle against it. And love? Love is the softening, unlocking, relaxing, gentle release, tender wash of gratitude and ease, letting go–freedom.

2. Truth: Suffering turns me to practice, to the dharma (i.e. truth). If my life were easy, no problem, infinite, there would be no reason to practice. If I had everything I wanted, felt no pain, didn’t suffer or need anything, I would be content as is, there would be no motivation to deepen my spiritual life. Practice doesn’t make the bad stuff go away or stop it from coming, but it enables me to cope, to stay, to show up as I am and stick with reality as it is.

3. Truth: Hope and fear are equally problematic, both cause me to suffer in the way that they turn my mind from this moment. Confidence and courage, however, are about showing up, here and now, and sticking around, no matter what happens. Being who I am–shaky, raw, afraid, flawed, messy, and completely brilliant. Being where I am, with what is, not running away or rejecting or numbing out, staying with my experience in the present moment, standing where I am, standing in the truth, where life is.

One wish: That we wake up to our lives exactly as they are, see truth and reality as it is and stay with it, just as we are right now. That we have the confidence, the courage, and the compassion to continue showing up and sticking around, and that through our presence, we can be a comfort to others as they attempt the same.