Our world seems to be on fire.

In some places, it is actually burning. The hazy smoke from fires in Canada is once again blanketing the northeast. I was connecting with some folks in Maui this week as they faced a local fire that was forcing people to evacuate. And communities in Gaza and Ukraine and other parts of the world are being swallowed by fire.

My son came to visit for a week.

He lives about 1500 miles away on the Gulf Coast of Florida. And it’s been a year since he has been home.

I was giddy with anticipation. 

Exhilarated!

How is your soul doing?

Does it need a little tune up?

Sometimes you can sense you need something, but you may not be certain what it is.

My mom would be proud of me.

I recently made a black raspberry crisp from berries we picked in our own yard.  

She would have loved this—she would love that we have raspberries in our yard. And she was always teaching us about connecting to nature and the world around us. 

I made up some new rules of the road recently.

I was inspired to do this when I realized I was done with grind culture.

Tired of continually being over productive and pushing beyond the brink of what is reasonable to achieve.

Ever watch someone trying to take the perfect selfie? 

It’s amusing to watch.

You can see the person trying pose after pose, position after position, pouted lips after pouted lips. 

I love being busy.

Having a lot of things going on.

There are so many things I like to do!

Read. Write. Play tennis. Do yoga. Bike. Hike. Hang with friends. I love music, theater, and the arts. And my mother and father gave me an insatiable appetite for learning.

I once played Merlin in “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.” 

Imagine: Grey beard glued to my face, a black sorcerer’s cap, and a cape draping over black shirt and pants. 

My mother had glued silver stars all over the cape and hat.

It’s time to get to work.

Get to work!

I don’t mean get yourself to the office, to a desk to respond to email or tackle work projects. I mean that it’s time to stop worrying about everyone else and turn your focus inward.

Ever wonder if you’re in the right career? 

Ever have angst about whether you are doing the right thing? 

Ever ponder if you are fulfilling your life purpose as well as you could be? 

I don't have much left of my parents. But I still have my dad's Bean boots.

They are duck boots, the kind without laces. Size 10.

My son used to fit into them—when he was in high school, he would wear them to shovel the back steps when it snowed. 

I’ve been thinking about abundance.

As in: What does it mean to have abundance?

This question might make you think about money.

I have always been ambitious.

I tend to set ever-increasing, challenging goals and to push myself.

Damn it!

It would be a lot more fun to be a free spirit.

What meeting is this? 

My partner asked this question as he saw the full Zoom screen on my laptop, showing 30 or so people. 

“It’s my team meeting,” I replied. 

“Do you have a rule that everyone has to be on camera”? he asked. 

I’ve been caught in a few narratives lately.

Such as: I’m way too busy at work.

And: I miss my Mom. 

And: I need to start eating healthier.

Narratives sometimes have someone else as the lead character, though.

I’m slowly losing the ability to be 100 percent here.

Or 100 percent there.

Too used to being in multiple places at the same time.

For example, typing an email while on the phone with my partner. Watching a movie and answering a text from friends at the same time.

I have been thinking about edges lately.

Lines we cross when we are ready.

Thresholds.

It’s usually easy to tell if we’re on one side of that threshold versus the other. In these moments, we are in a pre-contemplative or contemplative state around something.

Painting?

Photography?

Woodworking?

Or perhaps you step into your creativity in another way.

As human beings, we are gemstones with many facets. 

We are complex, intricate entities. 

I heard this idea from relationship coach Faith Fuller on a podcast recently.

I saw someone at an event recently who had an unusual canvas rucksack. 

The bag had patches stitched on it from all over the world.

And the patches were from unique destinations like Mozambique and Tasmania and Nicaragua, not just the usual France and Italy.