How has your week been? Have you had what you needed to surf the changing times? We are all so deeply affected these days. Sometimes we can create and manipulate our conditions and other times we have to adapt to conditions at hand.
How many times in your life have you witnessed tough situations others were in and think that you could not handle it if it happened to you? Then you find yourself in a similar situation and in hindsight you realize you did have the strength in you, the wisdom and courage to get through it. It seems many of us are in that place now and encouraging one another along the way. It’s quite beautiful.
Yesterday I was listening to a talk with Jack Kornfield of encouragement through the times. Timeless Teaching in a Time of Pandemic. It is really beautiful. I’ll put the link at the bottom of my letter. He is a wonderful story teller and touches on how a broad truce is needed to begin to heal ourselves and the world. We need to shine the light of truce on inequality, discriminations and struggles that are happening. People hear that we are all in the same boat. The only difference is that some are in yachts, some of us are in row boats and canoes and some are hanging onto a piece of floating board. And my mama would say with a wing and a prayer.
I think the best way to be tested for how much we appreciate what we have is to lose it. Then it becomes an extraordinary thing. Like when someone dies, their ghost presence can become like a flawless star. When we reunite with our freedom to be in the world and with one another in activities that ignite the moments, it’s life at its best. When you get to eat your favourite piece of succulent fruit that hasn’t been available to you, it’s divine. When we reconnect with the things that are taken away for any reason, we experience them in full glory.
It has definitely been challenging to be in lockdown on another continent. It’s day 58, but whose counting. Although this week there was a loosening of restrictions as we are in a green zone. We rented a scooter and went into town for supplies and took a long ride into the mountains. There was almost no other vehicles on the road. We took our masks off and savoured the smells of the jungle as if for the first time. It was truly a piece of heaven. As the temperature reaches almost 40, we go to dip in the Ganges. The freedom of these simple things were so incredible that we really felt the magnitude of their presence.
It’s a wonderful reminder to take stock for all we have and all we are in life, visible and invisible, both what we’ve known and what is new to us. For those in yachts, may you be safe, may you be happy and may you pick up a few in danger along the way. For those in row boats and canoes, may you be safe, may you be happy and may you look out for one another. For those of you hanging onto a drifting piece of board, may you be safe, may you be seen and helped, may you be happy.
Yesterday a spectacular week of the Ireland retreat would have concluded and I’d be on route to set up the Italy retreat experience. Yet another example of making plans and the Universe overriding them.
Right now it’s like this, but it will still be a joy to plan the retreats of 2021. Stay tuned.
