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With Jai back, we were able to herd the cats and take a family photo for the holidays. Doing so required flexibility in the schedule, timing of the exact moment, and feline cooperation. Also, a photographer showed up at the moment so no selfie stick needed.

It is one of our few family rituals. Magical look back on all the years together, and witness the growth, transformation and evolution. The four legged as well as the two legged.

What holiday rituals are you able to continue? Which ones are you letting go of?Ki to Happiness wishes you and your family a Happy Holiday season.

During these dark days, it’s essential for me to get out into nature. Spending a little time each day exposed to the elements uplifts my spirit. It’s also great for my body, mind, and emotions. Sometimes the darkness, the wind, and cold deter me.

Yesterday, I saw a sun break and went out for it. Along the way to the woods 10 blocks away, it started drizzling. I saw bands of darkness. The rain became heavier. I walked faster. As I was returning home, I saw people looking behind me up into the air. I was amazed to see a huge circular double rainbow appearing right over where I had just been deluged.

Are you getting enough time outside in nature? Did you see that magnificent double rainbow? Ki to Happiness looks up!

The most beloved poet died on this day in 1273. It is called his “wedding day” as he believed he would be reunited with his beloved Shams who died in 1248.

Rumi has inspired many though these centuries to love and live fully. His love for Shams wrote 70,000 verses, as his scribe recorded his outpouring. Here follows one of my favorites.

That Lives in Us

If you put your hands on this ore with me, they will never harm another and they will come to find they hold everything you want.

If you put your hands on this ore with me, it would no longer lift anything to your mouth that might wound your precious land-That sacred earth that is your body.

If you put your soul against this oar with me, the power that made the universe will enter your sinew from a source not outside your limbs, but from the holy realm that lives in us.

Exuberant is existence, time a husk. When the moment cracks open, ecstasy leaps out and devours space; love goes mad with the blessings, like my words give.

Why lay yourself on the torturer’s rack of the past and future? The mind that tries to shape tomorrow beyond its capacities will find no rest.

Be kind to yourself, dear-to our innocent follies. Forget any sound or touch you knew that did not help you dance. You will come to see that all evolves us.

If you put your heart against the earth with me, in serving every creature, our beloved will enter you from our secret realm and we will be, we will be so happy.

Will you put your hands on this oar with me? How will you celebrate Rumi’s wedding day? Ki to Happiness has her hands on this oar.

As I pulled up yesterday, Jai was right on the curb. He helped me carry some stuff in. He is settling back into the rhythms of Seattle. Our homecoming celebration reunion has been perfectly timed.

He left February 2. He was to return at various intervals. However, with the international restrictions on travel, only now did we all get back together. And yet there he was right on the curb, just when I could use a hand. On one level, this could be taken for granted. Seen as normal. Yet, I see the extraordinary moment. So I share it with you…

How’s the timing in your life?Are you seeing synchronicities? Ki to Happiness surrenders into the perfection.

I love those two words, especially on this significant new moon. This bodes well for the future of the next administration, as well as the whole country. Clearing a path forward, leaving behind the negativity, we have learned much about us and USA.

Some of our houses have divided. Some of our families have split. Some of our oldest friends are no longer on our Christmas card list. And yet, we heal, as a nation into leadership with coherence and potential for “we the people.”

Are your values democratic? What prevails in your life? Ki to Happiness values inclusiveness, tolerance, and diversity.

As we come into this darkest time of year we also experience the darkest moon. Our own dark material may be coming up. It’s a good day to release it.

It is also the feast day of Saint John of the cross. He knew all about darkness. He was imprisoned and tortured for his beliefs. Yet he found the grace to forgive his captors who crippled and blinded him. He became free, and reading his words can help free each one of us.

What darkness would you like to be free of? Who do you need to forgive? Ki to Happiness forgives the darkness from the light found within freedom.

Our memories are so particular. During times of stress, the senses become acute. Circumstances become emblazoned in our brain circuitry. Details on other levels less crucial to survival disappear. From another vantage point, a different story emerges completely.

In relatively stress-free times memories flow through with little distinction. Like a creek, the water flows over rocks and silt, onward toward the ocean. We may simply remember we passed through this way, breathing and smiling.

What will you remember about these times? How might it look from another vantage point? Ki to Happiness will remember passing through.

Counting my blessings, you are among them. Thank you for reading my words. I’m so grateful to be alive, and thriving, even in the midst of all that is.

How about you? What are you grateful for right now? Ki to Happiness is!

One of my very favorite rascal Sufi poets is Hafiz. He says “stay close to any sounds that make you glad you are alive.“ While we continue with our extended restrictions, we may notice many of those sounds in our immediate surroundings.

Sweet sounds of sleep, my cats purring, joyous laughter erupting spontaneously, and of course the silence, that is framed by all the other sounds are a few of my favorites. Jazzy holiday music, soft rain tickling the windows, my own voice chanting. The heart beating… breath breathing the dance of outer and inner…

What’s your list? Can you stay close? Ki to Happiness is glad Hafiz made lots of sounds.

I awaken at 4 AM. In the darkness, I see thick fog. My first foggy moment here in Seattle was 21 years ago. Although it was in October, it felt like Christmas. I hadn’t planned on being here for holidays, or for decades. It was as if I was seeing the future.

I’ve lived that future. I’ve loved this fog before. I remember. In doing so, it is as if time collapses into the eternal present. I am that eternal present. As are you.

Have you experienced this timelessness? Are you aware of the present your presence offers? Ki to Happiness is here now.