Palm frond friend

Yup, you guessed it; I'm playing again. This is a palm leaf from Anaheim; I just loved the way the tips curled, and wanted to shift the colors in a way to emphasize that. One thing led to another and now I have another one of those soulfriend images -- one that seems to be really embracing everything.

Which reflects how I felt reading this morning's passages in Shambhala: that sense of the basic goodness of life permeates Chogyam Trungpa's writing, and it has a way of warming, of challenging and inspiring, that helps me feel more open and welcoming; less closed in and anxious.

Reading this wonderful book also reminds me, not just of how much work there still is to do, but also of how right everything is just as it is; how perfectly normal and acceptable it is to be where I am and doing what I'm doing. Which is part of what learning to be fully present is all about, of course -- not getting caught up in where we were or what's ahead but celebrating what is now: the purr of the cat at my feet, the chop of the wind on the waves outside my window, the light ticking of my husband at his keyboard in the other room...

It's all good.