Category: Zen Journal

(Jan 31)

To practice not killing, a short list of times and situations.

I believe my passion in wanting to witness joy and connection helps me stay clear from killing someone else’s hopes, dreams, and passion. I am not sure why I’m called to connection but I do know that I would love to live my days allowing space for connection.

Not killing my intuition and the intuition of my children are what I live for. While my husband and others it’s not so much as killing it but rebirthing theirs. Not killing their hope that they can in fact trust their intuition and it will all be okay.

These prompts while random at times from the journal A Year of Zen causes a pause to reflect what the author is trying to encourage, and while confusing, they have brought me joy.

It’s January 30th and today the prompt lets you think about what comes before snow tracks? Now, this may be difficult to respond to if you don’t have any interaction with snow and tracks in the snow but having spent last winter snowshoeing it was easy for me to connect on this one.

While my friends called me Le Nordic Keisha for the amount of time I spent outside in the winter nothing would ever prepare for an encounter with a coyote.

Coyotes live in the neighbouring woods and with every adventure I would take to enjoy the snow covered trees I kept thinking I might have my first sighting.

Now reflecting, those coyotes were simply living in their own world before we came along. Nothing more, nothing less except maybe us invading their space. That’s what came before the tracks, the wild living in their snow covered homes while we towered cowardly over their world.

It’s January 29th and my first entry into the journal. With another year going by, it’s not hard to manage the feels of when you leave either a teacher or beloved behind.

I spent my birthday with a new friend, that surprisingly felt as though she had been friends with me for quite some time. Thinking of the people that I’ve left behind, I know they had their roles in my life. The teachers and loved ones from yesterday helped shape today’s version of who I am – the way I love, the way I heal, the I express my vulnerablity.

Living in a four season country, you learn to say goodbye to the seasons whether we want to or not. What life has taught me, saying hello and finding beauty in the following season allows for the type of growth that brings unknown joy.

While it might be hard to leave people in the past, I take comfort in knowing those relationships will always be cherished and there is beauty in finding room for the new.