I take myself to a place where everything I remember is enfolded in soft cloth and petals of fondness, a place where no harshness of word or deed has scratched at the bone of me, nor demanded of me something I need not give. I dwell in a place where even pain has a place within the fold. There is no other way but to flow with the river of all sorrow and all joy, letting even hard memories soften themselves in the cotton embrace of compassion and humility.
I am a speck of life in the vast ocean of existence. Why not open my heart, letting things in and out as they will do, all the while nurturing myself with a soft acceptance that passes all understanding.
I dwell in a place where daily activities are the holy grail, so grateful am I for our life here, for the trees and for this body which, in spite of pain, still moves and shakes, walks its mile every day and finds music through the voice and hands.
I have the will and the power to be comfortable in my skin and at peace with what life gives me and does not give me; to join with what life becomes when I calm my expectations and simply do what needs to be done… for my partner, for our house, for necessary tasks and for the people I am fortunate to have in my life. My spirit calls on three sanghas here where I live, and I can give back.
Simplicity is my teacher. All things can be a choice: reaction to others, purpose realized, calming internal wars and finding right speech.
I am lucky to be old. Memories instruct me and since I have so many, wisdom can peek through them all. Lucky too because present things speak to a short enough future that choices become simpler every day. I choose peace. I take myself to a place where I feel at home in myself no matter what.