I'm recording from a new space. We had a nephew join our house. For all these years, I've been recording from our guest room. Now I'll be recording from this, my guest room/my wife's office.

The pandemic feels relentless. How interesting that more people are getting a lens into what it means to live with more restrictions, less reserves, etc.

In Western civilization, we have such a narrative about the fact that suffering leads to reward. Nothing is made better because of my suffering. I can find a "silver lining." I've grown more as a person, internally, contemplatively, and learning how to work with pain than I would have without these conditions. However, this is still just suffering without any promise of anything better.

We fear this kind of suffering the most. Culturally, these fears show up everywhere and we are living with the manifestation of this fear. How do we make peace with it? This is suffering without the promise of redemption -- but there are millions of us doing it with you. It does not negate or alleviate YOUR suffering, it does mean that YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Connect, reach out, let 2022 be the year of not doing it alone.