In this skin, there is challenge.
In this skin, there is weakness.
In this skin, there is pain.
In this skin, I know the frailty of my humanity.
This skin, at times limiting and restricting, full of imperfections, is also the container that holds me, that cradles my every thought and feeling, the heart of my being.
In this skin, I know nourishment.
In this skin, I sense and feel fully.
In this skin, I explore edges and learn boundaries.
I know full contentment when I allow it, in this skin.
Can you turn your face to the wind and welcome it?
Does the air upon your face invite inquiry?
Opening all of your senses to each moment can be so freeing, exhilarating, curious, pleasantly undefinable.
Relaxing into the current of wind pulsing against my face, I need no answers, I need no direction.
Turning into the wind reminds me what it is to be alive in this body at this time.
Close your eyes, relax your cheeks, open wide and invite the winds of life to press into and delight you.
I breathe in…
inspire…
inspiration…
awakening inner wisdom with the breath.
Stress and agitation squeeze that breath. In the absence of breath, there is no action…
Stagnant…
Stagnation…
No connection …
Nothing flows.
I am stuck…until I exhale.
With the exhale, the dam of emotions is released…
tension dissipates.
The breath comes rushing back in. As if startled awake, I tune once more into my source.
Inspired action always takes me back to joy!
Photo credit:
Inspired by Jack Blackwell. So grateful, Jack, for your sharing your photography talents here!
Just humming along, everything seeming to go according to plan.
Then, there it is…the morsel of doubt…the blip in confidence…suddenly I have lost my way.
On the outside the path appears unchanged but on the inside the screen has just gone dark.
In that blip, that fractional space of darkness, I am momentarily paralyzed by thoughts that I am not all that…I don’t know what I’m doing…I become lost in judgment and expectations.
Everyone has them, those points of doubt when the screen seems to go blank. That’s when we must dig deep and patiently allow the system a chance to reboot, clearing out the malware and drawing on the back up files of imagination, courage, and wisdom to stay the course.
And then the blip is gone.
Life is not about suffering. Yet, frequently I fall into a pattern of thinking I am not fully living my life if there is not conflict or hardship.
I have made up a story that there is no room for me to be happy, no time or purpose for self care, rest, nourishment, and companionship. No space for laughter, play, and love.
Yet without those features my life is not complete and I move farther and farther away from my natural state of being.
I don’t even realize that the life I think I should be leading, the life that constantly tells me I am not worthy and not enough, is shrouding me in darkness, not because that is who I am supposed to be but as a reminder of what I am deeper inside.
I am enough just the way I am. I am successful right here and now. I am capable of feeling strong, happy, and healthy always. I am worthy of goodness.
I am made of love and my real purpose here in this place and time is to be a source of love for myself and others.
All the other stuff – the striving, the suffering, and self-deprecation — is just like cobwebs and dust, painting a picture of dismay and decay. However, quite easily with a swift and conscious swipe I can clear them all away to restore the beauty of the forgotten objects that reside just below.
In this cleaning of my house, I once more feel the freshness, spaciousness, and goodness that is intended to be. In devoting just that little bit of time and attention, that quick swipe, to restoring the luster, everything seems to fall into place. When that shroud is removed all that remains is the goodness that is in fact my life and who I am supposed to be.
Poor behavior is a sign of a loss of agency.
Lashing out at the circumstances around me instead of diving into the power within me.
There within I always have the capacity to choose, to “re-cognize” and bring back into my mental awareness my own tools of agency. I don’t need someone else to pick me up, to defend me, or clear the way for me.
I can feel confident, strong, and happy through my own decision making.
Whatever the story, with agency I can produce my own powerful, beautiful ending.
I love finding joy in unusual places.
In the raindrop that pokes my cheek and the wind that tosses my hair.
In the pattern of seeds that accidentally scatter on the floor.
In the slow looking that comes with the crowd of cars extending my commute.
In the exhale.
Here I am in my natural state of being. I feel no urgency, only a sense of calm and strength. I begin to know the essence of love.
Maybe finding joy is my super power.
