Oh Paris, My Paris

It was a dazzling trip; a winter walk through history, creativity, and surprise. But nothing came out of this trip that I might have expected. On the contrary, what bubbled to the surface were realizations and perceptions that were wholly different than what I would expect for myself. But when I embarked on the Paris journey I made a conscious intention to be open to whatever would be revealed; to just be open, an emptied vessel to fill or not to fill. And so it was.

It is with wonder that I now understand how the most subtle shift in perception can shift the cosmos. Nothing dramatic or reality-tv inclined, just a thin sheath of fog moving this way and that, a change in light, a tender brush of wind on a bridge. And, voilà, something is now different than it had been before.

We often make the mistake of wanting huge, materially visible outcomes to mark what is new or different in our lives. We need to touch the wound with our own hands to believe it exists. Yet, with concentrated awareness comes recognition of a more subtle plane of experience. A knowing without touching...