Sanctuary for the Heart.

02/19/2026

It's true that we can't change the past, even if the past is only 5 minutes ago, but we can heal the lingering trauma responses and protective mechanisms that are still functioning in the present. Our only influence is in the present moment and that begins with simple and compassionate awareness.

02/19/2026

Awake at 4 am to a familiar

and unsettling narrative

and then a gentle whisper,

“come back to what’s actually happening”.

I notice Maisie’s warm little body

pressed up against my legs and the weight

of my body on the mattress; feet; calves; back of knees;

hips; lower back; waist; upper back; shoulders

and head. Slowly. Slowly. Slowly making contact

as life calls me back to right here.

I feel for the weight of my duvet and reach out

from under the covers to touch the softness

of the extra blanket I put on my bed last night.

The air is cold and crisp and my body feels

warm and cozy. I hear the muffled sound of a car going

by and open my eyes to look around my room;

slivers of light coming in through the blinds;

the solid frame around the window;

a rocking chair in the corner with

an afghan my mom made lying over the arm;

the overhead fan with a soft blue wind chime hanging down.

I put it there for nights exactly like this.

I notice I'm feeling sleepy; heavy eyes, safe and cozy.

The narrative that woke me from my sleep has drifted away.

I settle back down into a deep and restful sleep.

The kind of sleep that I only dreamed about

for so many years when my body would not rest.

02/19/2026

Listen to your Longing

The still shape of Now
beckons to the heart.
Listen to your
deepest longing.
Stop and listen
beyond your thoughts.
The truth is nowhere else -
not in books, or words
from the mouths of sages,
nor in rituals, performed
with perfection.
Listen beyond ideas
to this moment as it is,
the only place your heart
can greet Itself.
God speaks every moment,
but you have to disappear
to hear.

~ Dorothy Hunt

02/18/2026

When I use the words God; Presence; Consciousness; Love; The Beloved I'm never pointing to a supreme entity. I am always pointing to the context of everything. The ocean of goodness in which everything appears including the sense of a separate self. Context and content all ultimately one. Pointing to a supreme entity would be much too limiting for the totality of everything. What is this everything? Context and content? That's for us to discover through our own unique experience of limited and unlimited. It's a mystery and yet a mystery that can be known.

02/18/2026

This morning I asked the question, "what is love?". The response came so simple and immediate. Love is what calls us back. Here.

The sound of the snow plow; smoke coming out of the chimney next door; the feel of my cozy socks on the carpet; a plant; a grey brick fireplace; the taste of coffee; moss on the ground with a dusting of snow; silence; the colour blue; a box of kleenex; my hands on the keyboard; a shovel leaned up against the shed; stillness; gravity; contraction in the body; a warm cozy sweater; hand on my heart; tiredness; longing; peaceful presence.

Love would never abandon us to chaos and complexity but offer herself to us freely over and over again. Come home sweet friend.

02/17/2026

I have died a thousand times
in this lifetime

A thousand false versions of myself
that didn't survive the inferno
of my life.

The only thing
I really know for certain
is how to gently breathe life back
into this precious system
after the flames of deconstruction.

I am learning to live from what survived the fire.

And to hold the one who survived it with great tenderness.

02/15/2026

The human survival system not only protects the physiology from the threat of annihilation it also protects the basic and essential qualities of our true nature. It might seem at times that these qualities have disappeared but they never truly disappear they simply go dormant under layers of protection waiting for the right conditions to flower. Some of these essential qualities go dormant and some continue to flower in spite of the most horrendous kinds of cruelty and abuse. This is one of the many miracles of existence.

02/15/2026

Pause for a moment and simply let the inside world and the outside world be here. You may notice that it's all happening in the same awareness. No inside or outside just this moment as it is. All just happening.

02/13/2026

In non-duality we are quick to recognize the pre-existing nature of reality but slow to recognize the pre-existing nature and intelligence of the human survival system.

02/12/2026

May the simple, quiet and ordinary nature of the present moment hold you gently today.

02/11/2026

This is our nature.....

safe with me.

02/11/2026

The sound of the fire crackling brings me back from the morning news. The sound of traffic and the early morning light coming under the heavy dark curtains remind me of all that is simple and ordinary. Here. The cool air on my skin and the smell of fresh coffee. I am drawn to simple looking, listening and noticing the space between objects not as respite but as the felt sense reality of being here. This body that has been oriented towards survival is learning that it’s safe to rest here; held in the warm heart of right now.