The above is a mantra I found in an article a year or two ago, when I first began a meditation practice.

"Practice" being the operative word, as, like with many things, it is a constant work in progress, calling me to examine the expectations I hold both of what "meditation" is and of myself, the outcomes I expect (if any), the reasons behind why I'm doing what I'm doing. Practice is fertile soil, ripe for plucking more than what you think you've planted.

Most people I've connected with over the last few weeks are feeling pushed to their limits. Like, yes, opportunities abound to practice all the mindfulness and tuning in and self care we've aspired to incorporate into our routines, but does this field have to be so dang full? Not all the lessons we're getting are ones we're enjoying, ones we've expected, or ones we'd choose, if given the choice.

Life, eh?

"Right now, it's like this," just like the picture says, is something to which I return again and again.