Part 3 of 4 in a Sanibel Island series …

Yesterday I went out for a five-mile walk in the nature preserve. Halfway through, the skies opened up and a torrential downpour rained over my entire body. I was drenched in seconds, sneakers squishing, sunscreen streaming into my eyes. Soon I was walking ankle-deep in flooded paths, eyes lowered, simply putting one foot in front of the other. There was a satisfying sense of simply allowing what was happening to happen and not resist it. I decided to ‘lean into’ it – literally and figuratively, and it was liberating!

Part 2 of 4 in a Sanibel Island series…

In the doing versus being equation, I am a doer. This has served me well my whole life; gotten me educated, gotten me jobs, kept me informed and engaged. All good; I’m glad I did it all. But … it’s time to let it go, at least some of the incessant doing.

Part 1 of 4 in a Sanibel Island series…

A daily Sanibel Island ritual is to walk to the beach to watch the sun set over the water. Sanibel is famous for its spectacular sunsets. On this day, the sky was overcast, and there wasn’t much of a sunset. But as I looked around, I saw – abundance! I was surrounded by the richness of sand, water, waves, air, sky. I was struck by the vastness of these things. In times when we lean toward fear, caution, and scarcity, it was a delight to notice and be moved by this abundance offered up by nature.

Welcome! This blog is a space for reflections on concepts in mindfulness and ways it appears in everyday life - meditation ‘off the cushion’, as they say. These will be my observations, experiences, stories, and reflections - hopefully of interest and use as we move together along this path of waking up.