Rain. Water. Life. Joy.

I am looking out my meditation/writing room. It has been raining since last night. Rain and scattered thunderstorms are anticipated all day. The cardinals have been visiting often this spring, and this morning it's as if they are dancing. I think of my dog Mister (photo on left). He has always LOVED water. When we have gone to dog parks with small bodies of water, he will dive in and splash his away in pursuit of other dogs who often are stronger swimmers .... he may not be the most graceful, or fastest swimmer, but he doesn't care. He is in pure ecstasy. We haven't gone to the dog park in a while, and this morning I found myself thinking of him splashing around. We need to return there so not only can he experience joy and ecstasy, but I can also experience that with him.

We have teachers all around us. They come in human form, in books, nature, wildlife, rocks, mountains, rivers, tragedy, loss, poetry, music, silence .... for me, my Papa knew the hurt little girl in me needed the unconditional love of a dog in order to open up her heart again. When Ahnung crossed over to the spirit world she waited a couple months then sent me Ishkode ('fire' in ojibwe) from Leech Lake. She was a fireball of a puppy. Ahnung knew I needed to laugh more in my life ... and with Ishka, laughing more was something I did!! Ishka is a smart, smart girl with a very active mind. I remember as puppy how she would drag downspouts off of my house. And like her brother Mister, she too, loves the water.

Every morning I take time to quiet my mind. An intentional time for quiet and space. To notice the flurry and chaos of my mind. To intentionally create space ... yes, the semicolon, the comma. If i didn't, my sentences, my life, would be one incredibly long, run on sentence, and I would fizzle out. I reflect on poems and words of great writers like Mary Oliver, Rumi, Mary Sarton, Wendell Berry ... I allow myself the time to reflect and question, and to simply Be in a place where I encourage my mind and heart to simply notice. It's not easy at times .... so i gently nudge myself to keep on practicing. It has served me well for decades; it has saved my life; it has allowed me to create new paths where paths never existed.

We are all teachers. We are all learners. We are all exactly where we need to be.