Having lived most of my life in crisis,
I am currently wallowing in contentment,
satisfaction,
and the bliss of each moment…
I know I can’t stay in this space…
it feels so blessed good.
It almost makes me anxious
wondering when the next bomb will drop.
Will I still have the old skills that got me through?
I think I will allow this respite to continue a bit
and enjoy it for the gift it is…
all pilgrims benefit from fresh air,
rest,
and love…

I have let go of so much in my life,
and gathered so much,
it sometimes has seen like an endless cycle.
But letting go hurts less,
and gathering becomes more of a selecting
of what is really important
as opposed to what is not.
I like this freedom from things…
it enables me to enjoy so much more.

For me
it all goes together…
the journey and the destination,
the sorrow and the joy,
the transition and the transformation…
there is gift in everything that happens to me,
and in when I happen to other people.
It is all connected…
we are all intertwined,
but don’t know it.
I can learn through little things–
small lessons
like a butterfly balanced on my thumb,
and through the big things–
like the pain of a loss that throws my life into chaos.
I am grateful for all of it
and find that I am not at all where I expected to be,
but richer and deeper and fuller in spirit.
Today I am not so afraid to die,
but am still working on the unknown future of living.

What holds me back from being wholehearted is fear,
social situations in which I feel less than . . .
other things as well,
but all are rooted in fear of one kind or another.
Holding back
prevents authenticity
and it dampens the experience for everyone.
I find assistance in Nature,
Music,
Art,
and by listening to or reading the words
of Wise people.
The more I open myself
the more comes to me . . .
and this is a venue
where I am surrounded by Wisdom
and for that,
as well as for my fellow students
I am very grateful..

First,
I am grateful to be included here in this course
and feel honored to be in such company.

Wholeheartedness
to me,
simply said,
involves putting my whole heart into whatever I am doing . . .
I have been actively practicing this,
gratitude,
and presence
for almost ten years now,
and can say that it is dramatically changing my life,
down to my very atoms and molecules.
The world meets me in a new way
and,
because I am opening to it
life is so much richer and deeper.
Even the challenges . . .
finding gratitude in terrible circumstances,
embracing with my whole heart
something that distresses or frightens me,
have gifts I never would have thought of or expected.

I am so moved by the various entries I have been reading
and look forward to the weeks of this shared space
with love . . .