Ways to Create Spaciousness

Lots of us tend to rush headlong into what’s next. But what would it be like to create a kind of intentional spaciousness? This is not a squishy place, but rather a place filled with air and light and breath. What might happen if you intentionally slow everything down and ask yourself, “What do I want to do or be next?” A different quality comes alive with this question—one that contains desire, yes, but also trust and a belief that something will arise if I just quiet myself and let it.

If you say to yourself, “What do I want to do or be next?” invariably there will be other voices vying for attention. Some of these are likely to be critical in nature, “shoulds” or judgmental in some way, or diversions. Some of these objections or diversions might be necessary or true to some degree. You might hear: “I need the money, so

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Coming Home: Finding Ourselves Where We Are

path forward

I haven’t posted in some time! I’ve been away for nearly a month. As I return I am reminded of something Jim Harrison once wrote: “Finding myself where I already am is a daily chore.” This feels particularly true right now, as I’m finding my way back home. What is “where I already am”, anyway? And what’s the path to getting there?

Something I’ve been considering this week is that part of the the return path is remembering and dreaming, and the other part is placing yourself firmly where you are (at the desk, in the garden, in a difficult conversation, advocating for yourself, etc.). What’s required is that we show up over and over in our commitments so that we can see and remember who we are. Sometimes our commitments can serve as ballast, sometimes as a path forward. They help us to navigate.

Photo by John Salzarulo on Unsplash

Part of my

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Life Living Through Us: A Practice

momentum, flow

There’s been a lot of attention in the past week or so to the phrase: letting life live through you. My dear friend Doug started this by naming his blog with this phrase, then citing the poem from which it originated. It’s a poem by Roger Keyes called “Hokusai Says,” which was introduced to many of us by Richard Strozzi-Heckler in our Strozzi Institute training. My favorite lines: “He says it doesn’t matter if you draw, or write books./… It matters that you care./It matters that you feel./It matters that you notice./It matters that life lives through you.”

Then just yesterday a colleague sent along a meditation with Tara Brach, and what is it named? Of course: “Letting Life Live Through You.” I just listened in and let myself be guided through this meditation, to see what Tara Brach’s idea of life living through felt like. In a meditation practice we can be encouraged to

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