On connection
“Out being ideas of wrongdoing and righting, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.”
I often don't allow myself to lean into emotion the way I did last week. I tuned inward, into my body and its sensations. Into the heaviness and emptiness alike. My yard becoming my medicine, my solace.
This week, my yard remained my medicine, but in community. The weight was light, the space full. I hosted my parents for a short, midweek stay, and during that time, my yard was a respite of love and laughter. From a gathering for dinner one night with my sisters, a brother-in-law and each a niece and nephew to a competitive Uno battle for bragging rights to hands in dirt once again, but this time with my mother's next to mine.
Presence isn't just a solo practice. It takes a village.
Mine showed up in two very different places. One, by witnessing Mother Nature doing what she does quietly, daily, without permission, as my parents and I did on our walk through the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, as the river's tides slowly came in and the water lilies and lotus were seeking life unseen through the mud.
The other, by joining together for a contemplative practice, as a few of us did recently in a Simply MBB class where we gathered across town and country (literally—as one friend joined from Puerto Rico). If you missed it, the recording is here. →
The practice didn’t change. The company did. Each time, the body and its sensations were there, serving as signal and answer yet again.
Last week, it was my body that held me. This week, my family.
Connection without agenda. Simply to be. Together.
Wherever you find yourself this weekend—whether at a table full of people or quietly on your own—take a deep breath and release it fully. Notice who or what is with you. That’s the field.