Function of Focus

“There’s a calm in every sunrise, every sunset…
a dazzling display of creation, and rest.
Come, soak in the moment.
It’s like the pause at the end of every breath,
A space where time touches eternity,
and in that moment, we are renewed.
Like an eternal reset for the soul.” – Bob Holmes

“Somewhere along the way, you realize that no one will teach you how to live your own life — not your parents or your idols, not the philosophers or the poets, not your liberal arts education or your twelve-step program, not church or therapy or Tolstoy. No matter how valuable any of that guidance, how pertinent any of that wisdom, in the end you discover that you make the path of life only by walking it with your own two feet under the overstory of your own consciousness — that singular miracle never repeated in all the history and future of the universe, never fully articulable to another.” – Maria Popova

On a decade birthday today, a deep gratitude for the journey.
Connections.
With God, self, others.
Unfolding, becoming, unfurling.
Relationships.
Laughter.
Wonder.
Awe.
Self-awareness.
Getting lost.
Resilience.
Grit.
Unexpected twists and turns.
Bridges and tunnels.
Detours.
Disappointments.
Delays.
Learning.
Unlearning.
Forgiving.
Remembering.
Forgetting.
Changing my mind.
Reflection.
Releasing.
Awakening.
Grief.
Appreciation.
Kindness.
Generosity.
Optimism despite the “facts.”
Trust.
Faith.
Grace.
Empathy.
Understanding.
Discernment.
Growth.
Beauty.
Joy.
All woven together with love.
Yes to life, every single day.
The weight and gravity of joy.

“Choose joy. Choose it like a child chooses the shoe to put on the right foot, the crayon to paint a sky. Choose it at first consciously, effortfully, pressing against the weight of a world heavy with reasons for sorrow, restless with need for action. Feel the sorrow, take the action, but keep pressing the weight of joy against it all, until it becomes mindless, automated, like gravity pulling the stream down its course; until it becomes an inner law of nature. If Viktor Frankl can exclaim “yes to life, in spite of everything — and what an everything he lived through — then so can any one of us amid the rubble of our plans, so trifling by comparison. Joy is not a function of a life free of friction and frustration, but a function of focus — an inner elevation by the fulcrum of choice.” – Maria Popova