Tropical Storm Michael, downgraded from Hurricane Michael, is on the way. I was awake a little after 6 and by a little after 7 had the dogs out, grateful that the rain had not started yet. They have gone back to sleep snuggled in around me in beds and soft blankets, snoring, as I sip my coffee and watch out my studio windows.

I wanted to get a blog post up early so if we lose power I will have done it. If there is no post tomorrow it will be because we don’t have power and I will pick up the thread here as soon as we do. This storm is supposed to pass through quickly and be gone by tonight.

My dear friend Katya made it through Hurricane Michael as it hit Florida yesterday and by the afternoon it had passed through. They had lost power but they were okay. I was so relieved to get a text from her. It has been 4 weeks of friends texting friends because hurricanes were coming, or here, or just passed, and how bad was the damage? and dealing with no power and the aftermath and then another hurricane on the way. I look so forward to peaceful fall days with no threat of storms.

Therapy was good yesterday. One of the things we talked about was how, besides all the physical damage here from Hurricane Florence, people have been deeply impacted on a mental/emotional level, and if you had challenges in this area already these have been difficult days. I have felt unmoored, like I haven’t been able to get my bearings. Part of me is having a hard time feeling safe in the world, fears are arising around every area of my life, I have lost confidence in myself. I am supposed to teach my first class Sunday night since the hurricane hit here and I will as long as I have power but I am afraid. I loved doing it, now I fear it. I will just show up and do the best I can. I will ease my way back in. I hope my students will be patient with me as I re-enter the space.

The sky is murky and dark. Trees and branches are swaying in the breeze. Whatever weather is coming is on the way. The people who were supposed to be here today to do work outside called to say that the first day that it isn’t raining they will be here, my daughter Rachel texted me Good Morning, I am praying for breaks in the rain to get the dogs out but know there could be hours and hours where this will not be possible.

There was a moment of howling wind, the Japanese maple’s branches are whipping about wildly, I will stop here and get this up while I still have power. I hope you are safe wherever you are…

Infinite Compassion: A 365 Day Journey~ 
Day 1 – Peeling The Layers Of The Heart…

“We must continue to open in the face of tremendous opposition.
No one is encouraging us to open and still we must
peel away the layers of the heart.”
Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche