This shelter-in-place is an opportunity, as all life is, of course, but I find myself more and more aware of relationship, specifically relationship with myself, intimacy there, as an exploration.  I’m curious. What’s going on in my heart, lungs, and gut right now? What creatures roam and shelter in a place which is part of me and yet may see itself as living and surviving on its own?

I see this sheltering-in-place as bringing us closer together, and I know that those who are struggling don’t like hearing that we’re all in this together as there is a vast and clear difference between the possibilities and opportunities for each of us and yet, as is also true, it’s how we meet what comes.

Last night I went outside to watch for meteors, but though I didn’t see any, the stars were there, sparkling and anchoring like the shine of dew as my heart responded to near and far, and in and out.

A friend yesterday spoke of yesterday her “private excitement”, and I’m with that this morning.  What is my private excitement, and what’s yours? How do we sparkle and anchor our day?

This morning I slip into awareness of relationship with myself, and the birds, animals, and plants outside this room, and across the valley, and with you too.  Where and how do we meet in, on, and through this new day?

I’m reading a memoir by Weijian Shan, Out of the Gobi: My Story of China and America.  It gives me space on what’s happening here, and what it is for individuals when leadership foments chaos for their own gains.  How is it for the microbes in me when I lose control and stamp about? My intention for today is to be a good, kind, and generous leader for all that’s happening within, and with that intention perhaps soften my influence in the wider world too.  

We’re told this is a time to “forest bathe” even if our environment is small, and it’s only to hold a tiny plant in our hands, and breathe back and forth this exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide that fuels our lives. May we come together in understanding differing points of view even as we unite to benefit the whole.