During an evening share I was writing reflections as we went along, inspired by comments from the others.

I don’t know how useful the thoughts below will be, but since people seem to wish to know where things stand with me, and how I feel, please know all is well and I patiently await our new world whatever form it takes.

The comments about writing particularly rang clear this evening during sharing. I find I have been writing a lot this last year; all kinds of writing. Writing to myself and to others—more writing than I can remember, and I have kept many journals off and on over the years. These days writing has filled part of the gap left from not having my community of practice in person.

So now I write about his teachings and how it still informs my daily life, even while still on my own.

I am grateful that during this isolation, the practice of his teachings has made some things more clear to me than before: the ways distractions can tease the mind into leaving the present moment; that just being is enough; that listening to and observing others aids in understanding. The list goes on.

It may be a blessing or a curse, depending on circumstances, but I was an English Lit.(EL) major in college. EL majors can sometimes be very analytical and judgmental. The comment about letting the words flow was just what we were taught; it can be very freeing. We can edit later. So now, no matter where the words take me, his teachings abide. It is the lotus whose roots go deep; it floats above the ripples and the mud and I feel like the little frog who jumps from leaf to leaf to be near the pretty flower.