You Must Be Present to Win!
You must be present to win! It’s April 1 as I write this, and while that’s not a meant as a joke, it seemed a good way to welcome the new month. The quote is a citation from a beloved Buddhist meditation teacher, Jack Kornfield. He reports seeing a sign outside of casino in Las...
Moving From Joy to Joy to Joy Lifts Me Up
After several days of deluging rain, the sun and blue sky and pink clouds have returned and I notice that moving from Joy to Joy to Joy lifts me up. This phrase came alive for me recently when my partner read me From Blossoms, by Li-Young Lee. It put me in mind of the time Mike and...
Discovery: The Vehicle I Drive Makes All the Difference
A few days ago I had a “confrontation” with my husband that led to an exciting discovery. (It was not our first “run in”, and surely not the last, but it was transformative — certainly for me, and also for us… The chance to look at myself from the outside was most illuminating!) What was the discovery?...
Gratitude: Reminders and Reminiscences
Gratitude and appreciation have not been front and center for me these last few weeks… whether it was the surge in the polls of the Conservative party; friends ill and dying, and the unmistakeable signs of aging at home; just a general settling in to the Core Condition: the humbling, challenging human paradox of being infinite...
Love — everyday!
I had in mind to write a blog about Balance. It’s been on my mind as the seasons shift. And I will come back to Balance, ha! in a later post. But then I came across a Love Poem by Billy Collins in the Writer’s Almanac, and was moved to tears. It changed my day,...
On the road!
We’ve been on the road four days now, and mostly have been dealing with challenges! But we have managed about 120 km, and have met the nicest people, seen more of Quebec than we expected, gotten caught in quite a rainstorm, listened to Michelle Obama’s speech, heard the results of the Quebec election as they came in,...
Triathlon!
It was a big day — satisfying, and good fun — but more than that as well. We lucked out (as did all the many other participants and scads of organizers and volunteers involved): even though showers and thunderstorms had been predicted, not a drop of rain fell on the 30th annual UBC Triathlon-Duathlon. It was...
The Journey IS the Destination!
Lau Tsu said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Well, I am about to take a step! This Sunday I will fly to Las Vegas (never been there before, didn’t really want to go, won’t stay but overnight!), then I’ll bus up early the next morning to St. George, UT,...
Passion, Risk, and Adventure
Themes addressed in Becoming include transformation, reinventing ourselves, control and surrender. Sara Lawrence Lightfoot talks about these topics as well in her new book THE THIRD CHAPTER: PASSION, RISK, AND ADVENTURE IN THE 25 YEARS AFTER 50. “All of us at this point, to some degree, are on a search for meaningfulness, for purposefulness,” she...
Look Underfoot
“The lesson which life repeats and constantly enforces is ‘look underfoot.’ You are always nearer the divine and the true sources of your power than you think.” John Burroughs How many of us took a moment today to ‘look underfoot’ for the divine? Was it a smile, a flower, a deep breath? BECOMING: Journeying Toward...
