Trusting that even the longest, hardest endings lead to brand new mornings.

Sharing the beautiful words and artwork from Morgan Harper Nichols.

"You will grow how you were meant to. One morning you will wake up and realize that even though so many things aren’t the same anymore, there is still more in store. Because knowing 'there is more in store' doesn’t mean believing that everything will be easy, it means trusting that even the longest, hardest endings lead to brand new mornings.

In this life you will have moments that leave you speechless. You will look to the one you love and wonder, how on earth did you get to live this life. You will also have nights that leave you restless where you are left to ask, what will it look like to survive. And you will also have a billion moments in between. You will weave in and out of beginnings and endings and somehow, through it all, you will end up growing in the way you were meant to. You will be tender and you will be strong and you will be glad you lived to see beautiful things flourish, even though they took so long. You will heal along the journey. You will find: you were always learning. Strength was rising up within you. You bloomed how you were meant to. MHN"

What Flying Can Teach Us About Rising Above the Turbulence

“I wonder if we can find in our own heart our own pilot who will search for more calm airs. Could we move up or down a bit to find a more peaceful state of the heart? Do we buckle up and patiently persevere through the storms of life? Is the turbulence something to avoid and get over, or is it life itself? Part of life?

I know there is wisdom in looking at serenity, not at merely “transcending” the storm, but also in navigating life. We are never promised pure bliss, or perfectly smooth sailing. A mature spiritual life consists of being able to navigate the storms. This I know.

I do remember the teachings of Buddhism, reminding us that the muck that the lotus rises through sustains the flower. This I know.

But I also know that not all of these stages are equally good, equally nourishing, equally beautiful for our hearts. That there are in us, inside us, more peaceful skies. Somewhere higher, or deeper, in us there is also a calm and tranquil realm of the spirit. It is breathing with the serenity above the turbulent clouds that there are blue skies and the warm sun. It is the state of being one with the One, breathing with the Source of all the universe. And what majestic intimacy there is Here. Now.

That serene realm, above the clouds, is not There. It is here, right here already with us…”

Full Article: On Being

The Wisdom of Uncertainty

“ ‘What we’re looking for is where we are.’

Can we learn to live in joy amongst all that this great unknowing has to offer? Jack guides us through some of the key principles of the awakened heart, encouraging an attitude of graciousness toward the mysterious nature of our existence.”

Full article at JackKornfield.com

Fraying at the Edges. A Life-changing diagnosis. #Alzheimer's @nytimes

“The Taylors hated the stealth that encased the disease, how it was treated like an unmentionable cousin. They wanted no part of that. Ms. Taylor decided that she would not show herself as some spackled-over person. “It was my decision to let the disease be alive in my life,” she said. “You don’t have to just throw in the towel.”

She didn’t know the order of whom she would tell, nor how to phrase something so shackled with frightful connotations. Your life becomes a script. Alzheimer’s, she knew, leaves its heavy imprint on everyone… 

Just recently, Ms. Taylor had discovered the website To Whom I May Concern, the creation of Maureen Matthews, a psychiatric nurse. It arranges for people in the early stage of dementia to act out plays telling what it is like for them. Ms. Taylor clicked on some videos, at once felt the common spirit. The person saying, ‘People take that diagnosis and assume that you are now officially irrelevant.’ And: ‘It’s not that we want people to treat us as if we have Alzheimer’s. But at the same time we want people to recognize that we have it. Confusing, right? Welcome to our world.’ And: ‘The end stage is our future. But not today’.”