… if obstacles arise, then still another; until, if your strength holds out, you will find that clear which at first looked dark” Giovanni Boccaccio

Foggy soup - sometimes that’s how life is.

You can only make out what is proximate, everything in the distance feels unclear,

but we can feel the sun coming.

Have faith, take one step in front of the other and pay attention to all your senses including intuition

What are your senses telling you right now?

Some mornings as Max dog and I head out for our walk, he stops just before the first stream. Absolutely still. His eyes nose and ears are the only things that move.

We stop too

We wait and observe listening with all our senses, looking for what he sees. We stand at the ready.

What do you want to observe in stillness?

The air fresh and cool after last night’s rain said “refresh, let go, breathe in and refresh”

Again and again the invitation is refresh, breathe in the cool calming life’s air, breathe out whatever needs to be let go.

Breathe in the freshness today.

The sun shone down like forgiveness. Washing over us in a warm embrace.

It is a clear sky today a welcome relief from days of rain and wind and grey skies.

Emmett the cat chose to join us on this morning‘s walk. Everyone is up for an adventure around the pond. To explore what’s changed since the night.

The maple sap buckets from the trees we have tapped are in varying states of filling up. One or two more days before they will be emptied into pots for boiling down. But that is for another day.

Today the sun welcomes a slow reprieve, be gentle, go easy, be well. Enjoy the sunshine, look up and bask in its gift.

What can you look up to?

Pockets of sunshine, that’s what we are getting today. The clouds, layers of shapes and colours and varying speeds as they move across the sky. And then pockets of sunshine appear and get covered again.

Each time the sun appears I am relieved to bask in the light and be reminded it is in fact there.

Today is not a day for big plans or bold moves. It is a day to hunker in. Relish in the sunshine with graces and prepare and be aware when it doesn’t shine. The wind is warning to be mindful lots of things can happen with big wind. Stay calm be present.

Max-dog and I stop at the south end of the pond, I watch as his ears nose and eyes attune to all around. He is still as he takes it in, assessing before we make our next move. We are OK to proceed around the pond in our usual way.

As we move forward we come to another perch of reflection, just below where the coyotes visit atop the ridge. We see two ducks make their way southwest across the sky leveraging the direction of the wind and travelling as a pair. There are many pairs happening right now. They seek where they will hunker in and make a nest. I wish them a safe journey and hope their destination welcomes them for what they seek.

What would you like to welcome into your day?

They grow no matter what, buds on each tree are a maroon brown in contrast with the weathered grey brown lower down on each branch. No matter the conditions they mature just a bit more each day. Some days faster than others

The same with the sap of the maples we’ve tapped. Dripping into buckets. We enjoy whatever rate of flow they give us. Slow or fast

This is not how we are in the world. We get upset if it’s not fast enough or too fast. We have an expectation a state of mind that judges the experience in one way or another. Some might offer this as a good thing - ambition and drive, innovation and efficiency.

I wonder what it is to be ok with what is while holding the ambition. We have a powerful mind

Can we hold the paradox?

Max dog and Emmett the cat have spring fever and we probably do too. They ask to be let in the house and out of the house like a revolving door. Rest and intensity, intensity and rest.

Spring transitions have the wild swings of warm summer like days and then back to the freeze of winter. It’s a test of our resilience and faith.

Summer will come when and how is unknown. Being OK with and even grateful for what it is, that’s the magic.

Letting go of expectation and finding the gratitude within in the what is.

What is for you today?

They’ve been here all along!

Mullein plantain dandelion - all here to welcome the spring and remind us they been here all along

What do you want to remember? Remember with Faith that has been here to support you nurture you and welcome you to the next season. A coming back to yourself and the remembering that faith strength resilience was always here. Sometimes covered in layers of snow and ice but here nonetheless.

What is calling you back to Faith from within?

Covered in layer of ice, each plant or bush wears is it not like a burden but a badge of honor.

This is the season where a layer of ice is nutrition. It will feed each bud and branch it covers, quench their thirst and send the right message of what to do and when.

Today it is “don’t open your buds yet, it’s still too early”. The ice not so thick as to say “soon, soon you can release the flower within.”

How can you honour your beauty today?

The clouds moved across the dome of the yurt revealing the full moon along the wafts of wind. Again comfort reclaimed the feeling of the night.

Coyotes howled in the distant Forest and an owl‘s call was the last thing we heard before falling asleep.

Our touchstone is nature.

In organizations it can be the mission or the people and teams you work within. Whichever, coming back to our touchstone again and again keeps perspective healthy. Being in the now is what the clouds, howls, and hoots brought us. This moment is life.

What is bringing you into the now?

We work best within the realm of possibility. The vision of what can be grounded in faith within the now of our lives and the resilience skills in holding both. Ruminating on past or future is useful in learning and stating a shared sense of risk. Preparing for that risk and acting from the wisdom of what we’ve learned is the gift we can come back again and again.

Be with the vast sky and see the worry as clouds floating past. They hold shape for a time and are moved with the grace of wind.

What do you want to let float past?