To Face Myself In Ceremony

Two weeks from today I will be in the jungle.

For three days straight.

Why?

To sit in

* a tobacco purge

* a nighttime Ayahuasca ceremony

* a daytime Ayahuasca ceremony

I am nervous.

I am excited.

I am grateful.

May all beings have the opportunity to face themselves and grow.

Namaste

Evan

My friends and I sat outside at a cafe while we waited for our food.

A woman walked up to us.

She was somewhere in her seventies and walked with a rollator.

She began to share her story, saying that the police abused her at the bus stop the previous day

We walked back over towards the table with my friends, stopping in the exact spot six feet from them where she had stood before.

We hugged goodbye and she walked back in the direction she came from.

I sat back down with my friends.

"What happened?" They asked.

"Anger is terrible. She needed someone to listen to her. To hear her suffering. To give her space." I responded.

This is the gift we can give others.

To listen with an open heart and hold space.

I want to melt into a puddle.

No interest in doing anything.

No aspirations for the future.

No joy in the present.

It is funny how heavy the world can feel at times.

The more you feel gratitude, the greater your capacity for awe.

Awe is an uplifting state of being you can create space to let into your life with a little intention.

You do not need to make it to some breathtaking overlook after climbing a mountain.

It is right there alongside you in everyday experience.

Use gratitude to break out of the fantasy world.

To let the blissful state of awe visit you.

Every time you open to receive it.