A few months back Lisa Claudia Briggs asked me to join a wise council of women and explore the question:
What’s one act of loving care that you do for yourself each day, and how does it fill you up with peace, beauty, and gratitude?
Here is what I said (with edits because I can’t help myself):
My one act of loving care is practicing acceptance – being aware of my thoughts and patterns, my aches and pains, my judgments and fears, and saying “Oh hi, here you are again.” Being welcoming and loving to all of me and all of my experiences, without letting any of it define me, without letting any of it run my day.
Rejecting myself, my moment-by-moment lived experience is something I am moving away from – just not interested. I am moving toward being a holy yes of acceptance, and by practicing acceptance, choosing my life with so much more ease and yes, choice.
What meditation teacher and author Phillip Moffitt wrote on Facebook recently:
Observe for yourself how much of the time you measure how well you are doing in regard to your destination while ignoring how you really feel in the moment. Where are all the actual minutes, hours, and days of your life? Do they wait for you at some destination, or are they rapidly passing right now? Ask yourself, would you rather have a feeling of happiness in the moment-to-moment experience of your life, or in a few big bang-up episodes upon reaching various goals? You know the final destination of the physical body is decay and death, so why would you choose to measure your life by endings when all the experience, the felt sense of being alive, is in the journey?
Isn’t that just so real and true?
Of course, I fail at all this often, usually before I’ve had my morning tea. But then I get to notice and accept that, too. It’s an always widening circle of more self-love.
Yes, I also meditate, practice yoga, go for long walks in the wood with my doodle dogs. I journal, read poetry, pray and make art messes. But all of those become icky shoulds wrapped around my ankles, hobbling my creative life force, without this balm of acceptance.
I hope you will join me in saying yes to all your experiences and by doing so, find that true love that is always available.
