A snow-covered mountain is an image of pristine beauty, “white,” as they say, “as the driven snow.” But when you actually get up in that snow you will find the perfect cover is marred with the tracks of animals and people, with dust and twigs and droppings and all the imperfections that come with the presence of life. Other people’s lives often look smooth and glossy from a distance, but not one of us lives in a place of purity and perfection.
How do you embrace your imperfections?
“You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.”
― Kahlil Gibran
What kind of prayers do you offer in moments of joy or times of abundance?
Nothing feels quite as wonderful as the sensation of riding the wave of life, of feeling caught up in the flow and carried forward by a power greater than yourself. In that moment you can do no wrong, you simply balance, perfectly poised, in the great ocean of life. Until you crash beneath the wave or are left stagnant on a beach. Every wave has its crest and trough. And there will always be another wave.
Where in the cycle of crest and trough is your life at this moment?
There’s nothing like the support of friends, knowing that there are people who will stand by your side, to get you through. But what happens when you see things differently than your friends, when you are pulled towards an idea, a belief, an interest that is foreign to those who are closest to you? Sometimes friendships are broken by this tug in a new direction, but the deepest connections contain enough elasticity to allow differences not to be divisions.
Who are you bound to with an elastic bond that keeps you connected through all the changes of your life?
“’We’re on our own. The spirits have been good enough to let us live here and use the utilities, and we’re saying: We know how nice you’re being. We appreciate the rain, we appreciate the sun, we appreciate the deer we took. Sorry if we messed up anything. You’ve gone to a lot of trouble, and we’ll try to be good guests.’
‘Like a note you’d send somebody after you stayed in their house?’
‘Exactly like that. ‘Thanks for letting me sleep on your couch. I took some beer out of the refrigerator, and I broke a coffee cup. Sorry, I hope it wasn’t your favorite one.’”
― Barbara Kingsolver
How do you try to be a good guest on this earth?
