Sitting with the darkness and the stillness is a gift. It is a way to open a portal that leads to deeper understanding about how we live.

This is where the choice arises: Have you learned anything? Will you repeat the same mistake or can we now move on to deepening our relations?

It may be time for all of us to be less attentive to all that has been and seems to be getting lost and to focus more on what might be found in the swirl of things that are part of the change taking place.

How do you live? This is a question that goes beyond whether you are a meat-eater or are a person who identifies as vegetarian/vegan/ pescatarian. It goes beyond whether you have a hybrid or traditional fueled vehicle, whether you recycle or not, whether you “believe” or not.

Thankful for the people who are taking the conditions we find challenging, head on. There is no other way in this moment. The attitude is, "let's dance!" - meaning, we will do what we need to do to keep the rhythm of life going. And, we will not do this out of a place of anxiety and fear; rather, we will do this from a place of making sure that everyone knows that the practical reality is that human beings need moments of joy.

Most people today are really lost. Feeling untethered from work, relationships, the earth. We are always here. This is a time when no task, thing, plan is sure to work. What now?

Today there are multiple realities, probably none of which are anything but the filtered conclusions of whatever identity, politics, social circle you belong to. And belonging to something seems essential - as amatter of survival in today’s world.

It is a time of change like we have anticipated, but never had to live before. Everything is in play. And the earth has let us know that things are going to be rocky until and unless we begin making different kinds of choices.

Walking before the sun rises in open, undeveloped, and natural spaces allows for clarity to be experienced. What is right and wrong in human terms, is revealed as folly in nature. There is no right or wrong. There is only what is.

One day, if you are lucky, you will have a chance to visit this place - they call it Ciudad de Dios - the City of God. If you believe there is a god, or even if you don't - this is what that spirit would look like among human beings.

The joy of watching the rununcla and beach rose and glads in full bloom is hard to explain in words. It's a feeling that raises the level of energy as the flowers just do what flowers are supposed to do.

Circles are our teacher - in them, we are reminded of the infinite, there is no coming and going, and that all things are interconnected.

And every generation believes they have confronted the most extreme that a world might produce - for good and no so good. But in this moment, it seems the thing that is different is that we really need to find a way to get better at being who we were meant to be – each one of us.

There is something awaiting our arrival to the next place and we have no idea what that something may be - heaven, hell, darkness, light - we can't really know. What we can know is what is happening now, and we can recognize that this is the material that we have to work with in getting ourselves to realize our best moments and selves.

We live in a time when more connection would help the world get through a very difficult period of history. This is a time when the dis-connects have made it easier not to recognize one another, hence so many cries for "being seen" and "belonging."

It is like a muscle that constricts when the possibility of hurt comes along and there is nothing yet, but the anticipation is definitely there. There can be more damage in a constricted state than in a relaxed state. Ease, softness comes with rest and time off.

Even our chores are reminders that we live in a much larger rhythm of life. It is the universal energy that draws us out, then draws us in. Like breathing itself. Inhale, touch in, then exhale. Inhale deeply. Zero. Exhale fully. A reset, every time.

"Be like water." is a teaching in martial arts that has served many very well; the understanding that yielding can be powerful. Yielding is not giving up, it is not surrender, it is not weakness. It's a strategic act.

The every day issues of living/dying/developing/changing - these will always be a part of the human experience.