As some of you know, I made time for a 3 week retreat last month: a much needed protected solitude. I’ve discovered that times of deep quiet are essential hygiene for me.

Throughout the retreat this quote from Rumi played through me: “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find the barriers that you have built against it and embrace them.”

This year has brought us to our knees

Whether that movement to our knees be in prayer or protest, defiance or despair, gratitude or grief, that gesture is alive. We see vividly how our body, this “chalice of the heart”, expresses without words.

Body awareness is an essential part of our instinctual wisdom.

“Heartbreak is a gateway to compassionate action. Such action arises when we trust our body sensations and the emotions they reveal. We can act with integrity and we do not have to second guess ourselves. It is key to know how to transform our confusion into wise action: our world depends upon it.”

Our 16 year old grandson lived with us recently. It lasted a week before he “borrowed” our car (he’s an underage driver, not allowed to drive without an adult or at night) and picked up a forbidden lover. They had their Romeo & Juliet moment in our guest bedroom and then he drove her home where they were greeted by her father in the driveway. And yes all this while a pandemic tears across the globe!

This month I share with you a piece that has inspired me by writer Eric Alan. The need for renewal is present and like this author, I continue to find solace in nature. I hope you too have beautiful places to renew yourself whether that be a city party, waterfalls, or wide open meadows.

“In times as tumultuous as these, it’s easy to feel like water over rocks: tumbling, crashing, cascading without control onto whatever hard landing waits below. Most people I know have had moments of that feeling, this year. Perspective is elusive. Plans are always made with a caveat; an overriding “if” that reflects uncertainty about what even the next hours will bring.

When are we satisfied? How do we know? How do we gently yet clearly winnow our lives down to what is essential? Not only what is essential in a material way but also, how do we traverse our difficult relationships with greater simplicity?

We humans are the only animals that can override our body signals & sensibilities. We are easily seduced when discerning what is enough because we often confuse a “want” for a “need”. Couple that with missed experiences of being heard, seen, supported, etc and it becomes even more complicated.