2. Embracing ephemerality.

Not a force to fight. Most things in life cannot be captured, bottled, put in a jar, kept forever, bought in multiples, or endlessly, or effortlessly. The present… Enjoy it. Let go of it. That is life.

3. Fall in love with the journey.

Are you in love with the way your mind works? With the way you think, your thoughts? Are you in love with the way you live your life?

4. Love is the bigger picture. The bigger picture is love.

The bigger picture often involves commitment and being scientific about it [curiosities, imbalances, whatever it is you are trying to sort out, your goals]. It can mean tracking things in a notebook religiously. It can mean foregoing conventional aesthetics or ease. In return there is self-love, the bigger picture, health, long-term goals, the sustainability of it all. The harder decision is typically the decision that is better for you & your being.

5. Meditate, meditate.

Bask in the sun. Learn to beekeep. Invest in a hobby. Go on the retreat. Invest in yourself. Invest in community. Growing pains are made very obvious and very painful sometimes. Be gracious in your journey. [I’ve meditated with bees, a wasp, my gut, the flower species of Queen Anne’s Lace, my immune system, the ocean].

6. Invest in one thing.

Quality. Invest in things made with love. Services delivered with love. Learn how the things you consume are made, how they are done. Your notebook, your jeans, your wheat grain. Think, how much of the Earth it takes for you to have your one item. Question desire for overconsumption and ‘more is more’. Searching for perfection is an endless search. Is this a routine you love? [I got lost in money & in attempts to buy some semblance of perfection. I became obsessed with throwing money at problems & creating a haven of maximalist everything-ness, comfort, and convenience.] [What if you reject convenience?] Using your mind to be crafty, clever, and intuitive is so very rewarding.

7. Plants are powerful.

Plants, when cultivated with love, in balance with their ecosystem; plants, when grown in rich diverse soil, when grown in bloom with other plants, when grown with all the creepy-crawlies, the pollinators, the decomposers, the creatures & critters; these plants – not poisoned by some sense of mass profitibality – are so deeply powerful and possible so in the aid of human healing. Plants, often common ones that we ignore or whose hardiest variety have been commercialized to the nth degree (think: sage, cinnamon, all the mints, ginger…) really have the answers. Do I have to say the words? Pharma sucks. [My superstar plants of the year are St Johns Wort in olive oil for all my cuts and scratches and bruises that I seem to collect like a kid, and psyllium husk which is the great digestive regulator.]

8. Express gratitude in full selfishness & selflessness.

Love,

L