Happy holiday weekend! It's a cozy gray morning, and we're on the train headed down the New England coast to Connecticut for a few days. I anticipate that there will be a lot of good eating and time well-spent with family on Easter. Before we head off, here are a few things that have moved me this week:
- Grabbing some new music inspiration from the always excellent playlists pulled together by Sarah Tolzmann of Note to Self. That March-April 15' playlist is really on point.
- Loving this essay on "The Potential in the Pregnant Pause" from On Being about how breaking free from habituation can open the door to transformation.
- Revisiting some classic thoughts on mindfulness from Jon Kabat-Zinn, and gearing up for a sitting at the Cambridge Zen Center later this spring.
- And finally, some words to close the week from Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh on how understanding ourselves better frees up our hearts to love others:
“ The essence of loving kindness is being able to offer happiness. You can be the sunshine for another person. You can’t offer happiness until you have it for yourself. So build a home inside by accepting yourself and learning to love and heal yourself. Learn how to practice mindfulness in such a way that you can create moments of happiness and joy for your own nourishment. Then you have something to offer the other person...
...If you have enough understanding and love, then every moment — whether it’s spent making breakfast, driving the car, watering the garden, or doing anything else in your day — can be a moment of joy.”