Awakening reveals our already perfect inherent freedom. It also becomes the groundwork from which we develop the wherewithal- the clarity and courage- to look into anything that we have the power to Velcro us into pain and identification. Over time, this seeing and releasing becomes natural; it becomes spontaneous. It’s the willingness to meet, sincerely and honestly, what is happening in our body and mind…..Adyashanti
a life grows….into, in between and around the life we think we’re living….it’s an amazing transformation, this becoming, this growing into elderhood…..a rich, loamy task of being…..may we learn that character and integrity bloom through seasons of the heart….
Compassion literally means ‘to suffer with.’ It is the quivering of the heart in response to pain. But before we can experience deep compassion for the pain of the earth or humankind or every living species, we must first open to our own suffering. When we feel our suffering with an open heart, we slowly learn to be less afraid of it and we gain an opportunity to heal. The more we can open to the anguish in our own hearts, the less afraid we will be to feel the pain of the world. The two are not separate. By engaging in this process, we become what the Tibetan teacher Chogyam Trungpa calls a ‘courageous warrior’ ‘If you search for the awakened heart- there is nothing but tenderness- and if you open your eyes to the rest of the world you feel tremendous sadness- It occurs because your heart is completely exposed. It is this tender heart of a warrior that has the power to heal the world.’……Mark Coleman
the willingness to peek at the heart
I think as one grows older one is appallingly exposed to wearing life instead of living it. Habit, physical deterioration and a slower digestion of our experiences, all tend to make one look on one’s dear life as a garment, a dressing gown, a raincoat, buttoned on with recurrent daily talks. I found one remedy, and that is to undertake something difficult, something new, to re-root myself in my own true faculties. For in such moments, life is not just a thing one wears, it is a thing one does and is…..Sylvia Townsend Warner
Make Believe Boutique 
Love this, blue………… It’s a sweet knowing that we carry with us. Boxes filled with sorrows and laughter……treasured both the same. Our riches are more than we can carry. The road we become, the story telling us………. Oh, what a wonderous gift the living……. *sigh* ~ Bobbie
wise woman you are……always becoming….always receiving…..love this life….your sweet and hazy view is contagious and sublime Bobbie……
That compassion begins with being open to our own suffering seems obvious, but experientially huge, because then others’ suffering becomes our own. Sometimes I have to wear a buttoned coat of selfishness, just to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I think this may be part of being human, but only if it doesn’t become a permanent armor
astute……indeed, I think this is why this is referred to as ‘fierce compassion’……a certain amount of grace seeks out the heart and guides us toward this most difficult path….to know this kind of vulnerability is to really know the heart of another…..many blessings on this bittersweet path Eileen….