The First Fire of Autumn... The eve of my BirthDay

Sitting in the quiet evening of my Portland hOMe... Being with the first fire of the season in the fireplace. I love tending fire... It is a cold icy day here and the deep warmth of wood burning feels so luscious...

Sitting in the quiet evening of my Portland hOMe... Being with the first fire of the season in the fireplace. I love tending fire... It is a cold icy day here and the deep warmth of wood burning feels so luscious. 

Tomorrow is my BirthDay... I am sitting with the fire reflecting the many years of this lifetime. All I can feel is Heart flowing Gratitude. Today I am warm, healthy, surrounded with love. Today I am deeply at Peace. Today I have enough. Today I have the work of my dharma. Today, I have a life full of people who grant me the honor of loving them.

Life is long and the Journey is full of spirals that ebb and flow through joy, difficulty, grace and pain. Love gained... Love lost. Clear paths... Being lost and alone. The tide flows out... The tide flows in. Yet for this moment... Right here and right now. Love, comfort and ease surround me. I sit quietly in this moment. Allowing every cell in my body, and every expanse of my Spirit... To know this comfort. To feel... To Be... To open my Heart. It is the memory of this knowing that will sustain me when the inevitable difficulties arrive once again. It is the memory of the difficult moments that make this moment of Grace, even more magnificent. 

The print on my wall of the the 'singing bowl' is one of my favorite things to gaze at. The original is above the fireplace in the Gathering Room of Harmony Hill Retreat Center. I have spent countless hours in that room facilitating retreats for those living with cancer, those who have lost a life partner and health professionals seeking healing. I always bring the painting, the imagery of bowls into our circle. I talk about bowls as representing pure potential... they can hold anything. Or nothing.

I am looking at the print on my wall, dancing in the firelight, and surrender to the mystery. The simple magnificent mystery of being alive. Being with-breath... Is such a very good thing. Breath in... Breath out... Gratitude.