Together, may we light the world...

This year... I left a partner. I moved four times. I traveled to Costa Rica, NC, NY, MA, NV, IL, MN, the ocean, and Willard, WI. I became ABD. My mentor and grandfather both passed away. I cameoed in a YouTube video. I began painting. I encountered elementals. I committed to a daily practice of meditation and yoga. I raised >$2000 for mental illness advocacy. I left everything behind to live at a monastery. 365 days later... all I feel is gratitude and wonder. 


In the midst of the dramatic changes of this year, I have begun to know myself. Which is another way of saying that I've begun to know the universal truth in all of us. As my heart opens to myself, it opens to the depths of others. 


I am grateful for my friends, and family, my dog, the staff at the Christine Center who have welcomed me into their homes and hearts, the sisters who sustain this place, and the fellow companions I've met who have inspired me so much. 


My prayer for everyone is that we might all begin to become more fully and truly ourselves, because that is when we shine the brightest. Together, may we light the world. 


And as I sign off... some photos of the trip....

The Christine Center, where I began and ended 2011. Thank goodness some journeys have trail signs. 

Costa Rica, which was the beginning of living a life I had always planned on, but had  never gotten around to. 

Home #3, where Bandit fell in love. He has been a wonderful trooper through our many transitions, determined, always, to be my companion.

The ends of things look so much like the beginnings.  I hardly dare to ask for a 2012 that even begins to be as transforming as 2011, and yet, I feel confident, my path will lead me there.