Aligning with Grace

Happiness is, more often than not, elusive. But it really depends on how we define it - or what we think makes us happy. This morning, I read an interview with Oprah Winfrey. The interviewer had to wait for her to finish a photo shoot with the esteemed Annie Liebovitz, who was very apologetic for keeping Oprah longer than expected. Oprah's response caught me my surprise. She told Liebovitz not to worry. While she was with her, she was fully present to those moments and those experiences. Later she would be with the interviewer, and then she would be fully present in that moment with him, no longer thinking or concerned with the photo shoot.  This is the first key to happiness I thought, being fully in the moment. Not in the past - and not in the future. That is not to say that this is an easy task! Earlier this week, I listened to a webinar where the presenter said something very similar. She noted the past does not exist - it is only a memory we insist on bringing back t...

"Every disturbance, whether resolved or not, is making space for an inner engagement." ~ Mark Nepo I set out for a walk this morning - breezy and perfect in every way - on the cusp of the Memorial Day weekend, deeply reflecting on this quote by Mark Nepo. Life is filled with disturbances, and every once in a while we revisit old wounds... I imagine sitting down with a dear friend or two, inquiring of them - or perhaps answering the question: "What is the greatest wound you carry?" For some of us it might be one wound - or perhaps several. For some of us it could be something very big and unfathomable - something even defying articulation - such as abuse. Or losing a child. Or having a beloved leave...  Sometimes our wounds might seem insignificant to others. But it does not matter. For to the one who experiences the wound - it is very real - and is perceived as the worst possible experience in that moment... Yet, our experiences are simply th...